The BUSPH Spotlight on Obesity will mark an important milestone this March with the debut of the Spring Break Challenge, an intensive interdisciplinary program-planning exercise.

In one of the first cross-University programs of its kind, teams from three Boston University schools – the School of Public Health, Sargent College and the School of Social Work – will develop community-based participatory research projects for the Blackstone Community Center (BCC) in the South End.

The BCC is one of 46 youth and family centers in Boston, and provides a range of programs and services for neighborhood children and teens. Last year, the center was selected as the site of the Boston University Health, Fitness and Wellness Program in conjunction with Boston’s continuing efforts to deliver free and low-cost programs to the city’s underserved residents.

Obesity has become the target of several local initiatives, including Mayor Tom Menino’s “Boston Moves for Health” campaign to challenge city residents to collectively lose 1 million pounds. Obesity was selected as the inaugural Spotlight issue because more than one third of American adults are now obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

During the Spring Break Challenge, scheduled for March 11-15, students will be asked to consider factors that might motivate teens and seniors to use the BCC and its new fitness center, funded in part by a the initial phase of a five-year Boston University grant. The planning exercise will offer valuable practice opportunities for BU students to assess the spectrum of factors that encourage or hinder healthy behaviors.

Applications to join the Challenge are being accepted until January 23, when 36 students will be selected. Six, six-member teams will learn and apply skills related to qualitative assessment, such as conducting focus groups, key informant interviews, developing survey instruments and survey design, team project management, and making effective oral presentations.

At the end of the exercise, each team will produce a report that includes:

  • A draft survey instrument to identify factors that promote or inhibit the use of the BCC and its new fitness center
  • A survey design addressing elements such as sampling method, sample size, instrument delivery mode, etc.
  • Recommended long-term plans that would involve ongoing student involvement from SPH, SSW, and Sargent College as part of a longer-term plan.
  • An oral presentation to class and a judging panel of experts.

For more information, contact Laura Rabin, lrrabin@bu.edu

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