NHLBI, Hearts N' Parks Program - 2003 Magnet Center Sites

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2003 Magnet Center Sites

Lafayette, IN—Youth Programs

Description

For a second consecutive year, the McAllister Day Camp for children focused on heart-healthy eating and physical activity. The campers again participated in CATCH activities, a major component of the camp program, as well as dancing, gymnastics, and tennis field trips. This year, campers walked to a majority of the field trip sites, instead of riding a bus. The campers also participated in a healthy lunch contest each week. Campers who brought healthy lunch menu items three times per week were eligible for a prize drawing. The contest was so successful that 100% of the campers were eligible eight of the nine weeks that the contest was held. In addition, the camp offered healthy snacks to the participants. The Purdue National Youth Sports Program (NYSP) for adolescents focused on heart-healthy eating and physical activity and was held on the Purdue University campus. The university Food and Nutrition Department provided the campers with a balanced and healthy breakfast and lunch each day. Campers attended daily health and drug awareness classes. The campers also participated in a variety of sports and physical activities such as swimming, basketball, tennis, baseball, and gymnastics.

Program Information

Name of program	McAllister Day Camp	Purdue National Youth Sports Program
Program start and end date	6/9/2003 to 8/8/2003	6/16/2003 to 7/25/2003
Number of times program met per week	5	5
Number of participants (total)	42	25
Number of male participants	23	14
Number of female participants	19	11
Target group	Child	Adolescent
Program focus
Physical Activity
Heart-Healthy Eating
Location of activities
Camp
After School	-	-
Other	-	-
Materials used
Information Handout
Lesson
Activity
Menus
Other	-	-

Public Visibility

Internal efforts to promote Hearts N' Parks programs:

Bulletin board or information racks
Newsletter or brochure

External efforts to promote Hearts N' Parks programs:

Media Coverage: Print

Special Event(s): N/A
Number of presentations: N/A

Other: N/A

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Partners

Partners who contributed to youth programs:

Partner Name	Partner Contribution
Purdue University - National Youth Sports Program (NYSP)	Collaborated on Hearts N' Parks programming for the NYSP adolescent program.
Western Indiana District Dietetic Association	Provided the McAllister Day Camp with heart-healthy snack and lunch menus.

Performance Measures

McAllister Day Camp
The McAllister Day Camp participants showed significant improvement in heart-healthy eating behavior and intention, as well as physical activity attitude. Scores also improved in heart-healthy eating knowledge. This suggests that the campers responded positively to the variety of games and CATCH activities used in the day-to-day programming.

Purdue National Youth Sports Program
The participants in the Purdue National Youth Sports Program (NYSP) showed significant improvement in heart-healthy eating behavior. Moderate improvement was achieved in heart-healthy eating knowledge, attitude and intention, as well as physical activity level.