SPECIAL
FEATURE:
Can Effectiveness of Healthy Lifestyle Programs Be Measured? ACFN Leaders
Speak Out
Posted November 11, 2005
During ACFN’s TRIUMPH events of 2005, co-sponsored
by the National Association for Health and Fitness, leaders of state
and local anti-obesity programs run by nonprofits, employers, schools
and governments noted a key challenge they face: quantifying success.
ACFN informally polled its 29-person advisory board on the subject,
and they spoke out. Below is a sampling of what they said.
Tom Baranowski, Ph.D., Professor of Pediatrics
and Leader of the Behavioral Nutrition Group, USDA-funded Children’s
Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College
of Medicine
On the overall challenge:
“Of course aspects of success can be measured. There are many,
many measurement tools, and we have created a number for use with children.
Which are best depends on the conceptual framework you want to impose
… and how much money you have to do it right.”
Judith Young, Ph.D., Vice President for Programs, American
Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance
On what a process might look like:
“We must take macro, research-based best practices and implement
them at a micro level with whatever evaluation can be incorporated cost-effectively
and efficiently.”
Kristine Clark, Ph.D., R.D., Director of Sports
Nutrition and Assistant Professor of Nutrition, Center for Sports
Medicine, Penn State
On where she believes efforts should focus:
“Measuring behavior change is more important to focus on than the
end result of efforts: weight loss. It’s the new behavior that
will ultimately manage the lost weight in the long run.”
Mary M. Austin, M.A., R.D., C.D.E., Immediate
Past President, American Association of Diabetes Educators
On the need to identify which behaviors might provide meaningful
measurements:
“On the individual local level, evaluating success depends on which
‘healthier lifestyle’ the community program is trying to
effect. I would think that a well-designed, pre- and post-program survey,
specific to the program's goals and completed by the participants in
that community, would provide useful information,” she said.
Jim Hill, Ph.D., Director, Health Sciences Center,
Center for Human Nutrition, University of Colorado,
On both the challenges and the possibility for impact:
“It is difficult to evaluate such programs because they are ‘real
world’ studies without the controlled conditions used in most of
the research we do. Additionally, these programs often have little or
no resources for evaluation and do not have personnel experienced in
research evaluation. However, I do think it is possible to evaluate the
extent to which these programs engage the target audience and to evaluate
some process and behavioral outcomes. I do not believe that easy ways
to do this exist, but they could be developed.”
To read more detailed excerpts of the ACFN Advisory Board’s
dialogue on the subject, click here.
To view a list of the members of the ACFN Advisory Board
and their bios, click here.
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