Barriers to Physical Activity and Healthy Eating in Children as Perceived by Low-Income Parents: A Case Study

During the past three decades the prevalence of childhood obesity has steadily increased in the United States. Causes of childhood obesity are complex and include numerous individual and environmental factors. The purpose of this study was to determine parent perceptions on the social-ecological barriers (community, school, and family) to physical activity and healthy eating, perceived specific to their children. Self-reported data gathered from a 50-item questionnaire and six focus groups were conducted with parents (n=43) enrolled in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program. Participants (16 to 67 years old) were predominately female (88.4%), Hispanic (67%), low income, and living in or near Lompoc in Santa Barbara County, CA. The social-ecological model (family, school, and community) was utilized to create focus group questions and provide recommendations as part of the Lompoc Community Health Improvement Project (2006-to-the-present). Popular community barriers for physical activity were: disconnected sidewalks, lack of safe bike routes to school, lack of recreational programming at an affordable cost, and language barriers (lack of marketing physical activity programs in Spanish). Two safety barriers involved parks; fear of injury (dilapidated equipment) and fear of gangs (violence). Common school barriers were: teachers do not lead-by-example, lack of healthy food in school cafeteria, and insufficient time for children to purchase food and eat. Family barriers included: grandparents sabotaging healthy eating environments (e.g., spoilingchildren), insufficient nutrition knowledge (both children and parents), and economics (not being able to afford healthy food and a recreation/gym membership)

Barriers to Physical Activity and Healthy Eating As Perceived by Parents in Lompoc: Focus Group Results

Dear members of the Lompoc Valley Community Healthcare Organization, Community Health for Lompoc Valley Community Health Center, Lompoc Valley Partners and Lompoc Valley Healthy Kids Initiative, On behalf of Cal Poly’s emerging Center for Obesity Prevention and Education (COPE), I would like to begin by expressing my gratitude to Dr. Steve McDowell and Ms. Judy Taggart for inviting our research team to partner with your community in this exciting project. It is clear to our research team that the community health agencies have invested a tremendous amount of time, energy and money in planning and implementing changes designed to improve the health of children and families in Lompoc. By actively seeking input from the recipients of the Lompoc region medical and educational services and by conducting focus groups on the topic of food, physical activity and current family practices, we have a better understanding of the fundamental beliefs and perceptions of your clients. Unlike questionnaires, the qualitative data generated by focus groups provides information not only on what they do, but why they do it. Also, participating in the focus group sessions, it was clear that your clients felt a sense of value, pride and investment in helping their community. It was a very empowering and enlightening experience for all of us. The following report includes a summary of our procedures, questionnaires and forms, and participants. Data generated from the transcripts have been carefully reviewed and analyzed by four researchers, then synthesized into this final report. Over one hundred sixty-five hours were required for the analysis and report phases alone. We encourage you to examine the information contained in this report with a positive perspective. For example, we are aware that many changes in Lompoc were already in the works (such as park improvements), but weak communication lines left the community members unaware of the level of commitment by the city and health agencies and of the forward progress that was occurring. Language posed a problem for non-English speakers. And participants reported not reading the newspaper, but relying on the TV. Recognizing this cluster of facts then enables your agencies to develop an effective communication campaign to resolve the issue. Later, when unveiling new programs or playgrounds, you now have an opportunity to give credit to the community members who invested their time and expressed their concerns/wishes, thereby empowering and rewarding those clients. Utilizing the information contained in this report will enable your Healthy Kids Initiative members to better understand perceived barriers. More importantly, you will be able to identify opportunities and strategies that address these perceptions in terms that are meaningful to your clients. Targeting your audience members through specific messages, approaches, and services will allow you to increase the likelihood of success. We hope that your actions will set precedence for the central coast region and inspire other agencies to become familiar with qualitative research methods when problem solving. If we can be of further assistance in addressing the solutions, please do not hesitate to call. At Cal Poly, besides further developing our qualitative research team, we are strengthening our educational program capabilities for developing targeted nutrition and physical activity interventions, and have hired a new education technology specialist for film, media, and public service announcement campaigns and outreach. On behalf of our entire research team, we wish you continued success on your quest for improved and responsive health for the Lompoc community. And in the future, we hope opportunities to collaborate continue on a regular basis. Should you have any questions after reading the report, or wish to further discuss a topic, please do not hesitate to contact me. Also, I would be happy to present a PowerPoint presentation of the report findings to your staff or community members. Sincerely, Ann Yelmokas McDermott, PhD, MS, LDN Director, the emerging Center for Obesity Prevention and Education Associate Professor, Kinesiology Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, CA 93407 Office: 805-756-6447 Cell: 617-869-3878 [email protected]

Evaluation of School Wellness Policies in North San Luis Obispo County

In March 2009, a research team from the newly formed STRIDE Institute at California Polytechnic State University was contracted to review and evaluate Lillian Larsen Elementary Schools’ eating and physical activity environments with the intent to create baseline measures for school wellness improvement. This report summarizes STRIDE’s studies, observations and recommendations

Evaluation of School Wellness Policies in South San Luis Obispo County

A two year grant (October 2008-2010) was awarded to the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department (SLOPHD) so that outside agencies could engage in school wellness policy (SWP) advocacy and community activities to aid in combating the growing epidemic of obesity among the county’s high risk populations. Under SLOPHD oversight, Healthy Eating Active Living (HEALSLO) proposed school district outcomes, objectives, and indicators. In March 2009, a research team from the newly formed STRIDE Institute at California Polytechnic State University was contracted to review and evaluate the Oceano Elementary School eating and physical activity environments with the intent to create baseline measures for school wellness improvement. This report summarizes STRIDE’s studies, observations and recommendations. Before diving into the results of this study, an overview of the childhood obesity issue and previous federal, state and school efforts undertaken to address this issue might be helpful

Evaluation of School Wellness Policies in North San Luis Obispo County (Final Report)

A two year grant (October 2008-2010) was awarded to the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department (SLO-PHD) so that outside agencies could engage in school wellness policy (SWP) advocacy and community activities to aid in combating the growing epidemic of obesity among the county‘s high risk populations. Under SLO-PHD oversight, Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL-SLO) proposed school district outcomes, objectives, and indicators. (Attachment A provides the SWP rationale while Attachment B contains the HEAL-SLO/TCE purpose and goals.) In March 2009, a research team from newly formed STRIDE at California Polytechnic State University was contracted to review and evaluate Lillian Larsen Elementary Schools‘ eating and physical activity environments with the intent to create baseline and outcome measures for school wellness improvement and sustainability. In September 2009, a mid-cycle report summarized STRIDE‘s studies, observations and recommendations. This final report evaluates Lillian Larsen‘s accomplishments against those mid-cycle recommendations and presents results and take-home messages. It also delineates any significant obstacles to progress and makes recommendations for the school‘s path forward for improvement and sustainability. First, a brief overview of the childhood obesity issue and a discussion of prevention through school intervention might be helpful

Evaluation of School Wellness Policies in South San Luis Obispo County (Final Report)

A two year grant (October 2008-2010) was awarded to the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department (SLO-PHD) so that outside agencies could engage in school wellness policy (SWP) advocacy and community activities to aid in combating the growing epidemic of obesity among the county’s high risk populations. Under SLO-PHD oversight, Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL-SLO) proposed school district outcomes, objectives, and indicators. (Attachment A provides the SWP rationale while Attachment B contains the HEAL-SLO/TCE purpose and goals.) In March 2009, a research team from the newly formed STRIDE at California Polytechnic State University was contracted to review and evaluate Oceano Elementary Schools’ eating and physical activity environments with the intent to create baseline and outcome measures for school wellness improvement and sustainability. In September 2009, a mid-cycle report summarized STRIDE’s studies, observations and recommendations. This final report evaluates Oceano’s accomplishments against mid-cycle recommendations previously made and presents results and take-home messages. It also delineates any significant obstacles to progress and makes recommendations for the school’s path forward for improvement and sustainability. First, a brief overview of the childhood obesity issue and a discussion of prevention through school intervention might be helpful

Spillovers and Local Growth Controls: An Alternative Perspective on Suburbanization

Since the 1970s, many local jurisdictions in politically fragmented metropolitan regions have enacted growth control and management measures to tackle the challenges arising from rapid suburban growth. These locally implemented growth controls have produced spillovers-the spatial shifts of homebuilding and households to nearby localities. Using data for California, this paper investigates the link between growth controls and homebuilding. The results suggest that some of the excess homebuilding can be linked to the presence or absence of growth control measures and thus be attributed to spillover effects. Moreover, generators of spillovers are nearly exclusively located in urban areas along the coast whereas the receptors of spillovers are primarily found at the metropolitan fringes and in peripherally located jurisdictions of the interior. Copyright 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd..