WAVE~Ripples for Change Obesity Two-Year Intervention in High School Soccer Players: Process Evaluation, Best Practices, and Youth Engagement
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School of Biological and Population Health Sciences, College of Public Health and Human Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 98331, USA
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Family and Community Health, School of Biological and Population Health Sciences, College of Public Health and Human Sciences Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 98331, USA
3
Division of Health and Exercise Science, Western Oregon University, 240 Richard Woodcock Education Center, 345 Monmouth Ave N., Monmouth, OR 97361, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Nutrients 2018, 10(6), 711; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10060711
Received: 17 May 2018 / Revised: 25 May 2018 / Accepted: 30 May 2018 / Published: 1 June 2018
This paper reports the process data on program fidelity, best practices for intervention implementation, youth and coach engagement, and youth application of knowledge and skills for the two-year WAVE~Ripples for Change (WAVE) obesity prevention intervention program focused on healthy eating, physical activity, and life skills with high school (HS) soccer players aged 14–19 years. Internal (staff: n = 7; volunteers: n = 27) and external (youth: n = 100; coaches: n = 9) stakeholders were interviewed/ surveyed. Staff rated program fidelity as high (94%), as did volunteers (85%). Best practices included coach encouragement for athlete participation, use of on-line consent for enrollment, building relationships with HS staff to complete assessments, sending text reminders, and providing incentives. Study results showed an enrollment rate of 72%, completion of baseline assessments of 89–98%, attendance of sports nutrition lessons in Year 1 and Year 2 of 90% and 39%, respectively, and team-building workshop (TBW) attendance of 25–31%. Activities exceeding youth expectations (>90%) included, (1) activities with their soccer team; (2) the TBW-cooking; and (3) sports nutrition lessons. The obesity prevention skills most applied by youth were obtained from the TBW-gardening and harvesting (49%), the TBW-cooking (43%), and sports nutrition lessons (44%). Coaches also rated the sports nutrition lessons highly and reported increased awareness for hydration/fueling during sport by the athletes. Using sport teams/clubs to engage youth in obesity prevention is a feasible model for future study.
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Keywords:
process evaluation; fidelity; feasibility; sports nutrition; intervention; coach; sport team
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MDPI and ACS Style
Meng, Y.; Wong, S.S.; Manore, M.M.; Patton-López, M. WAVE~Ripples for Change Obesity Two-Year Intervention in High School Soccer Players: Process Evaluation, Best Practices, and Youth Engagement. Nutrients 2018, 10, 711.
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