Creation of a Dual-Purpose Collegiate Athlete Nutrition Advising Program and Educational Curriculum

Qualitative Evaluation of University Students' Experience Delivering an Obesity Prevention Programme in Elementary Schools

The Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) programme is an accredited obesity prevention programme in the United States, teaching children about nutrition, physical activity, and screen time limits. This study aimed to evaluate the perceptions of undergraduate and graduate student leaders' about their experience delivering the CATCH programme in elementary schools in Northern Illinois school districts during the 2019-2020 school year and its impact on their personal and professional skills and on programme participants. An email questionnaire was sent to eligible students. Grounded theory was used to analyze the students' responses. Two researchers assigned codes to the data and identified themes. Twenty-one students responded (50% response rate). Six identified themes include "purpose of CATCH programme," "school facilities and resources," "university students experience with CATCH lessons and activities," "benefits to university student," "benefits to children and teachers," and "identified weaknesses and suggested improvements to CATCH." University students delivering the CATCH programme appreciated the opportunity to practice in a real-world setting, gained transferable professional skills, increased programme content knowledge, identified CATCH programme benefits/strengths, and planned to apply lessons learned to future practice.

Implementation of an Educational Fueling Station for a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Athletic Program

ABSTRACT

Gomez-Hixson, K, and Brown, ML. Implementation of an educational fueling station for a NCAA division III athletic program. J Strength Cond Res 35(8): 2346-2350, 2021-The purpose of this project was to evaluate the effectiveness and sustainability of an educational fueling station for National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III student-athletes. Subjects included student-athletes participating in the fall 2018 athletic season (n = 82). Once the mobile fueling station was established, the athletes were informed of the mobile fueling station policies and educated on the appropriate use and timing of the fueling station. The fueling station remained in operation until the end of the 2018 fall athletic season, after which the effectiveness and athlete acceptance of the mobile fueling station was assessed. An anonymous online survey was used as the assessment tool and was created by the authors based on the information pertinent to our institution and mobile fueling station goals and objectives. An itemized inventory usage tracking system was used to calculate actual costs. Data analysis was limited to basic descriptive statistics including the overall response rate and the frequency and percentage of responses to the survey questions. Outcome assessment indicated that 97% of athletes found that the foods provided helped their performance; 95% felt they were properly oriented to the fueling station, and 51% used the fueling station 1-2 times per week on game days. Furthermore, inventory tracking revealed that the operational costs came in under the projected budget. Overall, the mobile fueling station was successfully implemented for student-athletes within a NCAA Division III university and demonstrated feasibility and sustainability within a low-budget athletic program. Establishing proof of concept led to the permanent adoption of the mobile fueling station.