Volume 11 — December 31, 2014
SPECIAL TOPIC
Healthy Kids Out of School: Using Mixed Methods to Develop Principles for Promoting Healthy Eating and Physical Activity in Out-of-School Settings in the United States
The figure illustrates the mixed-methods approach applied to assemble evidence to inform decisions for the development of guiding principles and their revision after pilot testing. Insights from a quantitative survey of children’s perceptions of access to healthful food, roundtables with senior administrators of out-of-school time (OST) programs, and a review of OST policies and practices addressing physical activity and nutrition, led to the prioritization of three practices from the policy and literature review. Three guiding principles were then drafted, pilot tested, and revised. The final principles are these: Drink Right: Choose water instead of sugar-sweetened beverages; Move More: Boost movement and physical activity in all programs; Snack Smart: Fuel up on fruits and vegetables.
Figure 1. Applying the L.E.A.D. Framework to design a mixed-methods process for developing guiding principles for out-of-school time programs.
This figure presents an example of how the Healthy Kids Out of School principles are simply communicated on dissemination materials. The “drink right” principle is represented by a water droplet; “move more” corresponds to a human figure that appears to be mid jumping jack, and “snack smart” is represented by a whole apple.
Figure 2. Healthy Kids Out of School promotional logo and taglines.
The opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions.
