Yale University Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center

Community Health Opportunities Organized with Schools at the Epicenter (CHOOSE)

Description

There are 12.7 million children and adolescents (2-19 years old) and more than 78.6 million adults living in the U.S. who are obese. High obesity rates and low rates for adopting healthy diet and physical activity recommendations indicate more needs to be done to encourage healthy lifestyles.

Parents and the home environment can influence a child’s diet and physical activity.  To impact childhood obesity, researchers at the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center (PRC) will work to change the health culture of the household by targeting messages and programming to both children and adults.

The Yale-Griffin PRC is developing Community Health Opportunities Organized with Schools at the Epicenter (CHOOSE). CHOOSE is an intervention research project involving communities in Connecticut, Missouri, and Kansas. The project is designed to deliver tailored health messages and programming in schools and will be expanded to clinical offices, faith-based organizations, supermarkets, worksites, and social media in multiple target communities.

Facilitators will deliver the health messages and programming to improve nutrition knowledge, fitness levels, cooking skills, academic performance, body measurements, and blood pressure in students/parents. Researches will compare four levels of the intervention, including comparisons between target communities receiving and not receiving tailored messages and programming, with outcomes that include behaviors and body measurements.

CHOOSE aims to improve diet and physical activity among school-aged children and adults using effective programming that is specific to their needs and offered through schools (serving as epicenters) and other sites. Research results will be shared through scientific meetings, publications, and presentations (for scientific audiences); group meetings; local papers; and informational packets (for study participants).

Project Identifier Community Health Opportunities Organized with Schools at Epicenter (CHOOSE)

Funding Source PRC Program

Project Status Active

Host Institution Yale University

Health Topics Healthy youth | Obesity & overweight | Nutrition | Physical activity | School health

Research setting Community | School or school district

Race or ethnicity No specific focus

Gender No specific focus

Contact Information Center

Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center
60 College Street 
P.O. Box 208034
New Haven, CT 06520

Principal Investigator
Jeannette Ickovics
jeannette.ickovics@yale.edu

PRC Deputy Director
Beth Comerford
Phone: (203) 732-1265, ext. 224
Beth.comerford@yalegriffinprc.org