PRC-RH Other Projects

Muscatine and Fort Dodge Community School Districts Project

PI: Linda Snetselaar

Carver Trust/Principal Foundation

Linda Snetselaar talks with school kids about healthy food choices.

The obesity epidemic has increased greatly over the past three decades with children 6 to 11 in the most danger of disease and decreased longevity.  In 1980, 6.5 percent of children were identified as obese (at or above the 95 percentile on US growth charts) today we are seeing a leveling off but at the 17 percent level.  Most at risk are girls with 20 percent of Mexican-American origin in the obese category.

With these statistics we are devising a research project involving two Iowa communities, Muscatine and Fort Dodge, Iowa.  This project began in 2006. The project has included community based participatory principals that resulted in strategies for schools focused on increasing exercise and a healthy diet.  With these strategies we will work with a matching process and a traditional statistical evaluation to determine the outcome of the project.  Additionally we plan to design a dissemination component that will include research outcomes indicating the most productive means of building on research results.

The specific aims are:

1. To implement strategies tied to clearly-defined outcome measures with collaborative data collection methods against which progress can be tracked and evaluated over a two year period.
2. To disseminate study results to other communities in Iowa and the US including research on which methods of dissemination are most optimum for strategy implementation.

Child Obesity Prevention: Improving the Nutritional Environment at School Sporting Events

PI: Helena Laroche

Wellmark Foundation of Iowa

These Muscatine Muskie football players will be featured in a new ad campaign at Muscatine High School promoting new healthy foods at the concession stand.

This project works with the Muscatine School District, parent volunteers groups (Muscatine Booster Club), and food distributors to improve the nutrition environment for parents and children. The project began in July of 2008. The goals are to:

1. Increase the availability of healthy foods (i.e. lower fat, lower sugar, fruits and vegetables) for sale at school sporting events.
2. Identify healthy food alternatives that are acceptable to rural consumers and profitable for vendors.
3. Identify and reduce barriers to the sale of healthy food by volunteer groups. 
4. Model a process for changes that can be easily adopted by other volunteer groups.
5. Motivate other groups running concession stands to offer healthy alternatives.

To read about the core research projects at the PRC-RH click here.