Abstract
The primary aim of this paper was to assess the association of after-school club characteristics with changes in physical activity, nutrition, and attitudes in students of color after participating in the “YEAH!” Advocacy-based Physical Activity Program. We examine the strengths of school-based vs. non-school based programs in promoting feelings of self-efficacy and empowerment among students learning to become more physically active—and importantly, also test the strength of how programs that are more connected (to community-based partners) may contribute to students’ optimism around policy and public health as it directly affects them. This study examined differences in the youth advocacy training impact across four after-school club types: school-based with community partnerships, school-based without partnerships, non-school-based with community partners, and non-school-based clubs without partnerships. We measured improvements in youth’s “optimism for change”, “assertiveness” and “decision-making” as related to after school activities and found that non-school-based programs with community partners showed highest positive impact.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 3133 |
Pages (from-to) | 1-22 |
Number of pages | 22 |
Journal | International journal of environmental research and public health |
Volume | 18 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 2 2021 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Keywords
- Advocacy
- After-school programs
- Community engagement
- Neighborhood inequality
- Physical activity
- Youth participation