The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) is the nation's first federal nutrition education program for low-income populations. Without question, accelerating equity in programming has long been a priority of EFNEP. Historically underserved populations with limited financial resources are often people of color and at increased risk…

The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) is the nation's first nutrition education program and remains at the forefront of educational efforts to reduce nutrition insecurity of low-income families and youth today. Funded by the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), EFNEP supports program participants' efforts…

In this article, I provide a brief historical perspective on how state-level policy was an integral part of the rise of school physical education in the first half of the twentieth century, as well as the evolution of sport pedagogy as a subdiscipline within the field of kinesiology. The role and importance of policy in changing behavior are…

Continually accumulating information on the health risks associated with sedentary lifestyles indicates a severe public health need for increased physical activity, as well as for careful attention to factors that can curtail it. Study and documentation of such factors, however, are not enough to promote widespread change in firmly established…

School playtime (recess) provides children an opportunity to engage in a range of active and sedentary play behaviors on a daily basis. However, little data have investigated changes in playtime behaviors over time. The aim of this study was to investigate how children's physical activity levels, the size of their social group, play behaviors and…

Stage-matched interventions can only be more effective than "one-size-fits-all" interventions if they target participants' specific needs. Therefore, individuals must be allocated to a stage that truly reflects their mindsets. Various criteria for stage allocation exist. This study's objective was to demonstrate the impact of different…

This article reports a cross-national study of developmental change in health-enhancing behavior--healthy eating and regular exercise--among adolescents in China and the United States. The application of a conceptual framework comprising psychosocial and behavioral protective and risk factors--both proximal and distal and at both the individual…

Health education interventions can be tailored toward stages of change. This strategy is based on theories that predict at which stage which variables are indicative of subsequent behavior change processes. For example, planning is regarded as being effective in intenders. However, rather few studies have tested whether matched interventions are…

Today our country is facing an epidemic of inactivity and obesity, which has resulted in increased serious health complications, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease among others. Inactivity and obesity among youths are also associated with subpar academic performance. Prompt action is required if we are to have any real hope in…

A physical activity intervention applied principles of community-based participatory research, the community-based prevention marketing framework, and social cognitive theory. A nonrandomized design included women ages 35 to 54 in the southeastern United States. Women (n = 430 preprogram, n = 217 postprogram) enrolled in a 24-week behavioral…

The present study explores the validity of a recent stages of change (SoC) measure and algorithm among a sample of late adolescents. MANOVA and structural equation modeling are used to assess the relationship between five SoC groups (precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance) and a set of dependent measures including…

According to cross-sectional studies in sport science literature, decreasing sports activity with increasing age is generally assumed. In this paper, the validity of this assumption is checked by applying more effective methods of analysis, such as longitudinal and cohort sequence analyses. With the help of 20 years' worth of data records from the…

This article reviews and assesses the existing research literature on the efficacy of motivational interviewing (MI) to promote lifestyle changes and improve functioning among older adults confronting serious health challenges. A comprehensive literature review was conducted of intervention studies that tested the use of MI to achieve behavioral…

This article describes the equivalency testing results of a 12-week behavior change program on targeted determinates of physical activity (PA) and self-reported health status. Participants (n = 192) were randomized to face-to-face, combined Internet and face-to-face, and Internet-only groups. Equivalency testing was used to examine differences and…

Purpose: This paper seeks to describe the design, implementation, and lessons learned from an obesity prevention pilot program delivered in a low resource school in the USA. Design/methodology/approach: A planned program evaluation was conducted to: document explicitly the process of designing and implementing the program; and assess the…