Table 1.
Overview of participating youth organizations
| Cohort | Cycle | Boro | Brief description of organization | Brief description of research | Brief description of action project | Total youth | No. of sessions | HEP staff ratings (Scale 1 = high, 3 = low) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Partner org supporta | Staff stabilityb | Implementation successc | ||||||||
| 1 | 1 | BK | Multi-service, multi-site social service agency that offers afterschool youth programming. Host for HEP was a program in Bedford-Stuyvesant that emphasizes community service and recreational activities | Assessment of healthy vs. unhealthy food availability, pricing, and promotion of pre-selected food items within 2 blocks of 3 local schools attended by participants | School Lunch Campaign: student opinion survey of school food, cafeteria observational assessment, school food manager interview; meeting with NYC Department of Education’s Office of School Food administrators to discuss survey results | 19 | 36 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 2 |
| 2 | 1 | BK | Youth center in Bushwick with afterschool academic support, computer, music, art, and dance classes. Students are encouraged to participate in community service and advocacy activities. | Assessment of healthy vs. unhealthy food availability, pricing, and promotion of pre-selected food items within 2 blocks of 3 local schools attended by participants | School Lunch Campaign (see description under cohort 1) | 18 | 36 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | 1 | BX | Youth Advisory Board of DOHMH office. Designated DOHMH staff meet regularly with participants to develop youth-led health education projects. | Bodega/deli shelf space survey to assess amount of shelf space and product placement for healthy vs. unhealthy food items | School Lunch Campaign (see description under cohort 1) | 12 | 28 | 1 | 1 | 1.5 |
| 4 | 1 | BX | Youth center that houses afterschool recreational and academic support programs. Some focus on community mobilization and advocacy. | Assessment of school lunch: student opinion survey of school food, cafeteria observational assessment, school food manager interviews | Not undertaken | 12 | 12 | 2.5 | 3 | 3 |
| 5 | 1 | BX | Youth development organization with programs citywide that emphasize community service and offer afterschool recreational activities | Not undertaken | Not undertaken | 25 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| 6 | 2 | BK | Four-year community program that prepares East NY high school students for success in high school and college. Program features include college readiness, academic support, and positive peer groups. | Interviews of local grocery vendors to determine what factors influence the pricing of food and why healthy food is sold at a higher price than unhealthy food | Support mobilization for organization’s program in which students sell fresh produce in the community. Students presented findings of their summer CFA project to their Community Board and requested letters of support. | 40 | 18 | 2 | 1.5 | 2 |
| 7 | 2 | BX | A group of students at an alternative high school in the South Bronx participated in HEP after morning summer school hours. | Assessment of healthy vs. unhealthy food availability, pricing, and promotion of pre-selected food items. The survey area was the street where the high school is located between the 2 local subway stops. | Healthy value meal promotion: development of healthy lunch plates palatable to high school students and negotiation with local restaurants to offer reduce pricing for these meals to students | 15 | 12 | 1 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| 8 | 2 | BK | See description of organization for cohort 5. In this cycle, HEP partnered with a high school-based program in East NY. | Two-part assessment: survey of high school students on healthy food preferences followed by an assessment of availability of popular healthy foods at a local bodega frequented by youth. | Development and placement of a “shelf talker” promotional sign in a local bodega encouraging students to consume bananas as a healthy snack alternative. | 39 | 12 | 2 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| 9 | 2 | H | Community center that offers daily afterschool programming and provides academic support to foster high school completion | Not undertaken | Not undertaken | 22 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 2.5 |
| 10 | 2 | H | Youth center with programming supporting academic growth and college and career readiness through arts, media literacy, health education and multimedia technology | Assessment of types of $5 lunches available at restaurants, delis, and bodegas in a roughly 2 block radius near the youth center | Not undertaken | 30 | 7 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 3 |
| 11 | 2 | BX | An adolescent afterschool program based at a health clinic providing health education (with a focus on sexual health) and academic support | Counts and categorization of prepared food vendors, survey of meal pricing, and presence of calorie labeling at establishments located along a major thoroughfare along which the clinic is located | Healthy value meal promotion: development of healthy lunch plates based on a meal preference survey of clinic staff and negotiation with a local popular restaurant to offer reduced pricing for these meals | 18 | 26 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | 3 | BK | Community center providing programs for public housing residents, including GED classes, tutoring for students, and health fairs | Assessment of healthy vs. unhealthy food availability and pricing at local stores | Presented results of food assessment to the manager of a local variety store, advocated for healthy food availability, such as stocking 1 % milk, and developed a poster targeting food vendors with recommendations for pricing and stocking specific healthy food items | 11 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 13 | 3 | BK | See description of Organization for cohort 6 above | Assessment of healthy vs. unhealthy food availability, pricing, and calories per serving at 8 local stores | Not undertaken | 25 | 12 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 2.5 |
| 14 | 3 | BX | See description of Organization for cohort 7 above; students in this cohort participated during the school semester. | Student survey to identify health topic to inform the development of a health education and action group in the following semester | Unsuccessful attempts to meet and discuss student surveys with school dean and principal | 7 | 15 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 15 | 3 | BX | Community development corporation with a youth program focused on community mobilization around environmental justice and health issues | Four-part assessment to determine resident food preferences, a count and categorization of food vendors, a produce inventory, and food vendor interview about produce stocking and sales | Vegetable gardening project with the goal of increasing produce availability to Hunts Point residents at low/no cost | 19 | 19 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 16 | 3 | BK | Health-themed high school in East NY | Student survey of healthy food preferences and opinions about school lunch | Presentation of survey results and discussion with school’s food service manager. Follow-up advocacy not attempted | 27 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 17 | 3 | BX | See description of Organization for cohort 5 above. In this cycle, HEP partnered with an intermediate school-based program | Assessment of healthy vs. unhealthy food availability, pricing, and promotion of pre-selected food items at local stores and at a higher-income comparison neighborhood | Not undertaken | 34 | 12 | 2.5 | 2 | 1.5 |
| Total (mean) | 373 (21.9) | 287 (16.9) | (1.7) | (1.6) | (1.9) | |||||
aPartner organization support refers to the degree to which the youth organization supported HEP practically and philosophically. Each staff member who worked with a given cohort rated it on a scale of 1 to 3, with 1 being high support and 3 being low support; results are the means of these ratings
bStaff stability refers to how reliable staff were in supporting HEP, and was rated on a scale of 1 to 3, with 1 being high staff stability and 3 being low
cImplementation success refers to how successful the site was in implementing HEP activities and was rated on a scale of 1 to 3, with 1 being high success and 3 being low