A project of the Afterschool Alliance.

Afterschool Program Participation and the Development of Child Obesity and Peer Acceptance

Year Published: 2005

This longitudinal study examined the role that afterschool program participation plays in the development of childhood obesity and peer acceptance among low-income and minority children. The study assessed three unnamed northeastern, urban, public schools and found that the prevalence of obesity was significantly lower for afterschool participants compared to nonparticipants (21 percent vs. 33 percent) controlling for baseline obesity, poverty status, and race and ethnicity. The study also found that students participating in the afterschool programs showed significant increases in peer acceptance during their time in the program.

Scope of the Evaluation: Local

Program Type: Afterschool

Location: Three public schools in an unnamed city in the Northeastern United States.

Community Type: Urban

Grade level: Elementary School

Program Demographics: The study population was low-income and extremely diverse. At least 88 percent of participants qualified for the free or reduced price lunch program. Forty-six percent of participants were Hispanic, 34 percent were African American, 6 percent were European American, and 14 percent were “other”.

Evaluator: Mahoney, J., Lord, L., & Carryl, E. Yale University and New York University

Evaluation Methods: First, second, and third grade students from three urban schools in an unnamed Northeastern U.S. city were invited to participate, and a total of 439 students were included in this study. Researchers collected students’ starting (baseline) body mass index (BMI) from school health records and assessed students’ BMI again during fall 2003, a little more than three years after the baseline BMI assessment.

Information about students’ acceptance was collected through student and teacher surveys. Teachers completed a modified version of the interpersonal competence scale (ICS). The popularity factor of the ICS was used in this study and involves three items—popular with boys, popular with girls, lots of friends. Students were asked to write the names of students “that you don’t want to hang around” (rejection), “that don’t have a group and stay by themselves most of the time” (isolation), and those students who they “hang around together a lot” during school. The nominations for belonging to a group were calculated for each student.

Evaluation Type: Experimental

Summary of Outcomes: An examination of the impact of afterschool program participation on obesity issues in three unnamed northeastern, urban, public schools found the prevalence of obesity was significantly lower for afterschool participants compared to students who did not participate in programs. At the start of the study, there was very little difference in obesity when comparing participants to nonparticipants. However, at the end of the study, the prevalence of obesity was significantly lower for afterschool participants (21 percent) compared to nonparticipants (33 percent), when controlling for baseline obesity, poverty status, and race and ethnicity.

Additionally, students participating in the afterschool programs showed significant increases in peer acceptance during their time in the program. Students participating in afterschool programs also had significant increases in teacher-rated popularity.

Associated Evaluation: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s1532480xads0904_3

Date Added: November 3, 2016