Evaluation of the Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) Program in Third Through Fifth Graders in Northern Illinois

Abstract

ObjectivesConducting evaluations of health promotion programs are imperative to determine the program’s impact and explore possible improvements in content and delivery. This study’s objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of CATCH program, delivered by dietetic interns and Northern Illinois University (NIU) students, to third through fifth graders in Northern Illinois, in increasing their nutrition knowledge and healthy choices behavior. MethodsIn total, 167 elementary school children in grades third through fifth in Northern Illinois participated in a non-experimental program evaluation study. We delivered six CATCH lessons throughout the academic year to five elementary schools. Lessons were focused on ‘Go, Slow, Whoa’ food categories to help children understand healthier food choices. Validated questionnaires from the CATCH Global Foundation were administered in classrooms and online pre- and post-intervention to assess nutritional knowledge and healthy choices behavior. ResultsChildren in third through fifth grades significantly increased their knowledge about nutrient-dense foods (P < .001 for each grade). Fourth and fifth graders exhibited a significant increase in their ability to make healthier food choices, P = .03 and P = .007 respectively. As grade level increased from third to fifth grade, improvement in nutrition knowledge and adoption of healthy food choices did not increase significantly; third to fourth grade, P = .973 and fourth to fifth grade, P = .637. ConclusionsWe conclude that children in grades third through fifth who participated in the six lessons of the CATCH program expanded their nutritional knowledge and improved their ability to make healthier choices. This study demonstrates the potential benefits of communiversity collaborations for nutrition education in schools. However, higher grades did not show a greater increase in knowledge or more improvement in making healthy choices than lower grades. Future research should examine the same cohort of children over three years of participation to determine the accumulation of knowledge and behavior improvement. Funding SourcesNorthwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Health Center in DeKalb, IL and Northern Illinois University provided funds to procure supplies and cover printing cost of evaluation surveys.