Allison Smith Nutrition Program

Allison SmithSorority Women at Virginia Tech

Oak Lane CommunityG.R.E.E.K. Health

(Greek Resource to Eat Exercise & Know Health)12/11/2009

HNFE 4624 Fall 2009

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Community Information

The Sorority Life at Virginia Tech Health Needs Assessment was created and conducted by a group of HNFE 4624 Community Nutrition students in Fall 2009. It was put together to assess the health status, based on nutrition and physical activity, of the Panhellenic Greek women at Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech has approximately 30,000 undergraduates. The student body is predominately white and the gender distribution is roughly 16,000 males to 14,000 females. This study targeted the 1,300 females at Virginia Tech that belong to a Panhellenic Greek Organization, which makes up about 4% of the entire student body and about 11% of the female students. Virginia Tech’s sorority women demographics include an age range of 18-22 years, primarily Caucasian in race, middle class income and college educated. The Greek women are distributed throughout 13 chapters that have houses located on campus in the Oak Lane Community and are a valuable segment of the Virginia Tech student population, organization, history and tradition.

The needs assessment data was collected via a survey created through the website www.survey.vt.edu and distributed over each individual sorority’s listserv along with the purpose of the study and description of the survey. The questionnaire was aimed at evaluating the health status, existing knowledge in the fields of nutrition and exercise and interest in potential health programs/facilities of the sorority women. One hundred forty-eight individuals completed the survey. Of these, 15 were HNFE students and 46 have taken a nutrition related course. The survey yielded data the suggested a huge deficit in knowledge and issues with the current health status of the females in the Greek community.

One major problem that was revealed was that a great percentage of the sorority women at Virginia Tech are not reaching the United States Department of Agriculture Dietary Guideline goals for fruit and vegetable intake for their age group. In addition, many of them did not know about the health resources available to them or were not utilizing them. The targeted population had a high percentage of individuals that read food labels but many were not using them correctly. There were excessive amounts of alcohol consumed within this group and in many cases it affected their eating habits. Finally, about a quarter of the women polled engaged in physical activity once a week or not at all.

Community resources currently existing and available to all undergraduates at the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, VA include the Heat Education and Awareness Team (HEAT), the Women’s Center, Y.E.S. nutrition facts program, War Memorial Gym, McComas Gym, group fitness instruction, HNFE 1004 Food and Nutrition and free nutrition counseling at the Cook counseling center. A specific community-related issue impacting the Virginia Tech sorority women is a misuse of the current available programs, as they are not being utilized to their fill capacity in the Greek and Oak Lane Community. While the programs listed above are available,

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and in some cases required, to be part of each chapter’s experience, interviews conducted among girls of 7 different chapter revealed that they were not employed consistently or at all in their sisterhood. More assessment data is needed to learn why this lack of use/misuse is occurring. Sororities may be unaware of the opportunities available, experience conflicting views from their chapter members on taking advantage of these programs, hold incorrect preconceptions of the programs, have difficulty garnering chapter participation or are having difficulty incorporating these resources into their chapter’s life. Despite the need for additional data assessing specific reasons for this problem and the pertaining community-related issues, it is clear from our initial assessment that a majority of sorority women do not have an optimal health status and lack of common nutritional knowledge despite the fact that the necessary resources were available to them at Virginia Tech.

There are additional resources outside of the Virginia Tech campus in the surrounding Blacksburg Community. The built physical environment of this area is optimal for an active life style. There are numerous gyms and fitness clubs within a few miles of campus and a community center. All the streets are lined with sidewalks and streets will bike lanes. In addition, many of the neighborhoods features walking trails. A little outside the town of Blacksburg, there are places to enjoy the outdoors such as the New River and the Cascades. The Blacksburg Farmers Market is a great local resource. No only does it support the local community but somewhere to purchase fresh and in season produce.

Sororities at Virginia Tech must follow the rules and regulations of many different organizations and at different levels. The Panhellenic Council is the governing body of all Sororities nation wide. It has a lot of power over the policies and actions of these Greek organizations. They set the standards for scholarship, philanthropy and social life. In addition to this, each chapter has Nationals, which sets the rules for that specific chapter nation-wide. Both of these organizations have a lot of influence over the Sororities. In addition to Greek governing bodies, Virginia Tech and local/state/national government have the ability to regulate the actions of these organizations. Mainly the due that each member pays per semester funds these organizations. They also receive support from Nationals and Virginia Tech in order to exist on this campus.

Nutritional and Health Status

After reviewing the final survey results, several health and dietary issues were found regarding the target audience. A primary concern was an overall low intake of fruits and vegetables. The 2005 USDA Dietary Guidelines recommend that females age 18-22 should consume 2 cups of fruit (4, ½ cup servings) and 2 ½ cups of vegetables daily (5, ½ cup servings). It was found that 13% of the members ate no servings of fruit at all, 33% ate 1 serving, 46% ate 2 servings, 5% ate 3 servings, and only 2% ate 4 servings. Vegetable intake results were similar; 10% of the members are no servings of vegetables at all, 21% ate 1 serving, 26% ate 2 servings,

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22% ate 3 servings and only 10% ate 4 or more servings. Another concern is that nutrition label knowledge is deficient. When asked what the first thing that they look at on a food nutrition label, a high percentage of individuals said the calorie amount, not taking into consideration serving size, fat content and other nutrient. This survey revealed that excessive amounts of alcohol were consumed within this group, 50% of the participants self-reported drinking 6 or more beverages a week. In addition to this, 74% said that they usually consume food during or after drinking and 78% said that drinking affects their food choices the following day. Finally, occurrence of physical activity was relatively good but there is 24% that only attends the gym 0-1 day a week.

A positive finding is the apparent interest in education and proposed programs regarding exercise and nutrition. Our results found that 81% of the women would be interested in a gym in Oak Lane, 83% would be interested in an exercise program, and 68% would be interested in a nutrition program. This further reinforces the fact that programs dedicated to health; nutrition and physical activity would be beneficial and well received by the Chapter members.

These nutritional and health concerns affect the majority of the Greek women. The survey revealed a lot of information about specific aspects of health status and knowledge of the participants polled. The survey included 148 responses, which is represents about 11% of the 1,300 members of the Panhellenic chapter women. The survey was available to all 13 chapters and all of their members to voluntarily participate. There is a chance that the population was not accurately represented through the assessment. However, because statistics indicate that the women in this population have similar demographics, it is acceptable to assume that these results are representative of the entire community of Greek females.

Some contributors and risk factors were identified that seemingly contribute to the finding in concern. Mainly, the lack of knowledge and utilization of available programs is key to the decreased health and physical activity of the sorority members. There are also contributing socio-cultural factors related to our findings. For example, people with similar interests tend to socialize together. Therefore, the sorority members may be practicing positive health and nutrition behaviors if the other members are and vise-versa. Another socio-cultural related factor is the consumption of alcohol among sorority members. Alcohol consumption often leads to negative health behaviors, such as decreasing consumption of nutrient dense foods during and immediately after drinking, as well as decreasing exercise behaviors. The environment also plays a large role in the health habits of sorority members. The required residency area for sorority members, Oak Lane, is located on-campus but not very close to the campus dining and fitness facilities. The fact that these facilities are not easily accessible to the women contributes to their decreased exercise and healthy food consumption. The combination of these mentioned factors increases the likelihood of poor health behaviors and outcomes.

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These dietary and physical activity habits affect the health of this population in many ways. Many of these women are not getting all of the necessary nutrients which could lead to deficiency, disease, compromised immune systems, lack of energy and inability to properly function in daily life. Physical activity is an essential aspect to a healthy life. A lot of this community is not getting enough activity each day which could lead to unwanted weight gain, decrease in lean muscle mass, increase in fat mass, lack of energy, etc. The amount of alcohol consumed by this population and is not only having negative impacts on health but also is a safety risk. Through education and skill building, this population can improve their dietary choices, increase their physical activity and decrease their alcohol consumption. It is important to make these changes to improve these women’s current health but also to equip them with the skills and build healthy habits for the rest of their lives.

Solutions

There are many possible community-based solutions to these problems for individuals. One option would be to have a representative visit each chapter every semester and inform them of all of the available resources on campus and how to utilize them. This would help to fix the problem of misuse of the current resources available to all undergraduates at Virginia Tech. Another option is to install a health and wellness chair or committee into each chapter, whose purpose will be to overlook the health and well being of their sisters and to promote more positive health-related behaviors such as decreased drinking, increased physical activity and better food choices.

Oak Lane is the center of Greek life for sorority women. It is the location of the houses of all 13 chapters. It is also a central meeting place for all of the Greeks for chapter meeting, philanthropy events and other activities. In addition, about 40 women from each chapter are required to live in each house, which makes Oak Lane the residency of 520 sorority girls. The location is on campus but is to not within walking distance of any of the dining halls or gyms, which is a huge setback. A solution to this problem would be to build a gym and/or dining within the community. This would significantly improve the built environment of Oak Lane and benefit all of the Greeks who coincide there.

It is evident that this community is utilizing the gym facilities and dining halls that are available. By making these amenities even more local and convenient to where these people live, it can only increase their use. It was discovered during the interview with sororities that some chapter already have a wellness chair on their executive board, they just aren’t being employed. If this is a position in many chapters already, they obviously realize the importance of health for all of the sisters. I think it would be a great, easy solution to institute a wellness chair/committee to all 13 chapters and to supply them with curriculum to share with their sorority throughout the year. This curriculum would involve information on nutrition and exercise, how to be a healthier Greek, what resources are available and hands on practice for how to implement the behaviors into their every day lives.

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In addition this person would be responsible for organizing health related events such as group exercise, healthy chapter dinners, inviting guest speakers, hikes, etc.

The biggest challenge, in terms of these solutions, is money. Virginia Tech would have to invest a lot of money into building a gym and dining hall in Oak Lane. The cost of building these facilities will essentially be passed down to the Greek organizations that live in the community because they will be using this new gym and dining hall. This would definitely lead to more expensive dues and may discourage student from going through recruitment and joining a Greek organization. It is very unlikely that this option is even plausible in the near future. Installing a wellness committee into every chapter, however, would have a lot less monetary challenges other than what it takes to put together the plans and however much each chapter wants to allot from the budget to this committee. Challenges this option may have include disinterest in adding this position (if it is not already there), time to put the curriculum together, training the people who will be delivering the information and basically getting the program to initially pick up interest within the community.

PROGRAM

Target Audience and Community

The target audience of this program is the Panhellenic Sorority Members at Virginia Tech. The program will take place in the Oak Lane Community on campus because each chapter has a house in this central location. It is the site for all of their chapter meetings, sisterhood events and housing for about ½ of each chapter.

Description of the Program

Objectives and Goals

The goal of this program is to increase the knowledge and resources and give Greek women the ability to lead healthy, happy lives. The objective is to increase knowledge, increase physical activity, improve food choices, and decrease alcohol consumption. Also, this program will help to change the attitudes and social norms of this community.

Program

The Program is called G.R.E.E.K. Health, which stand for Greek Resource to Eat Exercise & Know Health. Our slogan is “Getting the Girls in Letters Looking Better”. The purpose of this program is in increase the knowledge, improve the eating/drinking habits, and increase physical activity in order to improve the overall health of all chapter members and the Greek community. This will be done in through a multi-activity program sponsored by Virginia Tech, the Panhellenic Council and each of the 13 chapters. All chapter members will be required to

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complete a set of online classes to enhance their knowledge on the subject of health. It will consist of 3 topics nutrition, physical activity and alcohol consumption (see lesson plan attached). Each chapter will employ a Wellness Chair, if they do not already have one, and at each weekly chapter meeting this sister will present a planned mini workshop on different aspects of health such as available resources, making go choices in the dining halls, being active outside of the gym etc. There will be 15 weeks of lessons given to the chair with a plan of what to discuss and handouts for the chapter. This chair will also be responsible for planning monthly active chapter events and work with the other chairs to plan Greek wide health events at least once a semester such as 5Ks, hiking trips, healthy dinners, etc. In addition to the lessons online and Wellness chair workshops and events, the sister will be asked to fill out a weekly survey about how much physical activity and how many healthy eating days they had this week. They will receive points for each of these areas and then at the end of each month the participants will receive one dollar for every point they earned that will be put onto a gift certificate to be used at a sporting good store. They can earn enough money to buy things such as work out clothes, weights, shoes, iPods, etc. At the end of each semester the chapter that received the most points will be recognized.

Collaborations

For this program to work, collaborations with other on campus organizations will have to be made. The Panhellenic Council is the governing body over the 13 chapters that reside in the Oak Lane Community. They plan a lot of the programs available to Greeks such as study hours, socials and philanthropy. This program could be incorporated into Greek life through them. We also need to work with all 13 chapters to make this a team effort. If everyone is involved it can be a community wide program rather than a chapter-by-chapter activity.

Behavior Change Model

I chose to use the Theory of Planned Behavior as my model for this program. This theory is based on the idea that an individual will perform a certain behavior based on their perceived behavioral control. This perceived behavior control is influenced by the opportunities, resources and skills necessary to perform the behavior. Another aspect of this theory is the intent to perform a behavior, which is influenced by a person’s attitude toward the behavior and social environment or subjective norm. This theory works will with my community because the program that has been developed has the ability to influence perceived behavior control by educating these individuals about the available opportunities, resources and teach them the skills they need to lead a healthy lifestyle. This program also works with the group as a whole, which will help to change the attitudes of the participants and shift the social norm toward a healthier lifestyle.

Theory of Planned Behavior

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Behavioral Model Construct How you Incorporated this Construct into Your ProgramBehavioral belief This program will make the individuals more aware of

the consequences of poor health practices short and long term

Attitude toward behavior This program will help the individual to value the performance of the positive behaviors

Normative belief This program will change the normative belief of the individual by obtaining the support of their families and peers. By doing this, the perception of the behavior will be more positive.

Subjective norm This program will make the subjective norm be to perform the positive health behaviors by working with the entire community. By changing the attitude of the entire social network, transformation will be much more prevalent.

Perceived behavior control This program will equip the participants’ will the necessary knowledge and resources to perform the desired behaviors. By doing this we will give them the ability to change and help improve the perceived behavioral control.

Behavioral intention By developing the attitude toward the behavior, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control of the participants, this program will also boost the individual’s readiness to perform the behavior.

Resources and Handouts

Logic Model

See attachment.

Lesson Plan, Point-of-Purchase Materials, and/or Sample Promotional Items

See attachment.

Handouts

See attachment.

Evaluation

Evaluation Plan

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I plan to evaluate the accuracy and effectiveness of my program by monitoring the behaviors of the community by observations, surveys and self-report. The participants will be filling out a weekly survey on their physical activities and eating habits that will be used for the incentive program. This information will be a valuable tool in assessing the program. There will also be information from the study modules that can be used to determine how much the women have learned through that education tool. The needs assessment survey will be administered again at the end of the semester to see if we have met out goals and if the needs of the community have been met. Using online surveys to assess the program works well because it is quick, easy, and electronic and everyone has access to it.

Learning Objectives and Proposed Behavioral Outcomes/Impacts for your Program

How will you evaluate progress toward each of these?

Increased knowledge Assessment after each study moduleImproved food choices Self reportIncreased physical activity Monitor gym visits via Hokie PassportDecreased alcohol consumption Self-reportOverall improvement of health within community

Survey (same as needs assessment) and questionnaire of the results of the program after each year

Evaluation Samples

End of Semester Assessment Surveyhttps://survey.vt.edu/survey/entry.jsp?id=1257361438127

Weekly Incentive Program Surveyhttps://survey.vt.edu/survey/entry.jsp?id=1260567473368

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Appendix

References:

About Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech Website. 2009. Accessed Nov 19, 2009. Available at: http://www.vt.edu/about/index.html

Health Education and Awareness Team. Virginia Tech Website. 2009. Accessed Nov 19, 2009. Available at: http://www.healthcenter.vt.edu/HE/heat/index.htm

Student Programs, Dining: Nutrition/Y.E.S. Program. Virginia Tech Website.2009. Accessed Nov 19, 2009. Available at: http://www.studentprograms.vt.edu/yes/

Virginia Tech Panhellenic Council. Virginia Tech Website.2009. Accessed Nov 19, 2009. Available at: http://www.vtphc.com/

Department of Recreational Sports. Virginia Tech Website.2009. Accessed Nov 19, 2009. Available at: http://www.recsports.vt.edu/

Survey.vt.edu. Virginia Tech Website.2009. Accessed Nov 8, 2009. Available at: http://www.survey.vt.edu/

Women’s Center at Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech Website.2009. Accessed Nov 19, 2009. Available at: http://www.womenscenter.vt.edu/

2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans: Key Recommendations for the General Population. USDA Website. 2009. Accessed Nov 19, 2009. Available at: http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/DietaryGuidelines/2005/2005DGPressRelease.pdf

2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. HHS Website. 2009. Accessed Dec 11, 2009. Available at: http://www.health.gov/paguidelines/

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SAMPLE PROMOTIONAL ITEM

Greek Resource to Eat Exercise & Know Health

G.R.E.E.K. Health is a student run organization that strives to improve the overall health of the Greek Community

The G.R.E.E.K. Health Program offers: Training for your wellness chair on how to motivate and train your chapter Planned active events for all of the sororities to participate in Interactive study modules to enhance the health education experience Incentive program to reward participants for getting fit and eating right

Benefits: Improved health of the Greek community Improved chapter morale Social interaction Learn healthy habits and build skills for a healthy and happy future Leave a healthy legacy!

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LESSON PLAN

Self Study Module

Each section will feature a lesson, how it affects your health, interactive activity, skill building and a quiz at the end.

Eat Your Way to Health

This section will focus on how what you eat affects your health, the costs of making poor food choices and the benefits of making healthful ones. This section will also go over the basics of a nutritious diet, an interactive section where they will choose the better food option called “What not to eat”. Finally there will be a quiz and at the end a list of resources pertaining to eating well. Go Greek, Get Moving

This section will focus on how physical activity affects your health. It will go over the costs of living a sedentary lifestyle and the benefits of being active. This section will also go over the basic physical activity requirements for their age group and include a list of activities outside of the gym that are active. The activity will guide them through assessing their current body composition to determine where they are and then give tips of how they can improve through activity. Finally there will be a quiz and at the end a list of resources pertaining to being active.

Chugging Calories: Drinking and Your Health

This section will focus on how alcohol consumption affects your health. It will go over the costs of excessive drinking and the benefits of reducing intake. This section will also go over the calorie content of popular alcoholic drinks and tips on how to reduce your consumption and how to help your sisters and friend do the same. The activity will be to determine the calories in a drink and compare it to the exercise amount that would be necessary to burn it off. Finally there will be a quiz and at the end a list of resources pertaining to healthier drinking habits.

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LESSON PLAN

Chapter Meetings Lesson Plan Outline by Week

1. Introduction of G.R.E.E.K. Health Program2. Introduction to Nutrition3. Introduction to Physical Activity4. Pros to Healthy Eating5. Pros to Physical Activity6. How to Eat Healthier at Home7. How to Eat Healthier on Campus8. What Not to Eat9. Chugging Calories10. How to be More Active 11. Drink Water!12. Help a Sister Out: How to Get Your Sisters on Track13. Building Community: Healthy, Happy, Greek14. Greek & Healthy for Life: Lifestyle Changes for the Future15. Summary

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Sample Handout

Eating healthy can be fun and delicious. You don’t have to sacrifice the things you like to improve your diet. Just follow these easy tips!

Substitute white for whole wheat whenever you can. Wheat bread has more flavor and more nutrients.

Eat the rainbow! Try to have a lot of colors in your meal by choosing a variety of fruits and vegetables.

Sub full fat dairy products such as cheese, sour cream, milk, etc. for the low fat or nonfat version. This cuts back on the calories and doesn’t affect the flavor.

Look for the “light” version. Almost every product has one and many of them taste very similar to the original product but save you in fat, carbohydrates and/or sugar.

Portions! Eat whatever you want just make sure that the portion is moderate. It’s O.K. to have the pie and eat it too, just make sure it’s a slice!

Check out: www.FoodNetwork.comThis is a great resource to look up new and yummy recipes. The site has a “Healthy Eating” section with tons of recipes to try. You can even search the recipes based on nutrition, ingredients, cuisine and meal part!

Nutritious and Delicious Books

Eat This Not That! Supermarket Survival Guide: The No-Diet Weight Loss Solution

By David Zinczenko

Hungry Girl: 200 Under 200: 200 Recipes Under 200 Calories

By Lisa Lillien

Cooking Light Complete Cookbook: A Fresh New Way to Cook

By The editors of Cooking Light Maganize

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Initial Intermediate Long Term

Inputs Activities Audience Outcomes (1-3 years) Outcomes (3 –5 years) Outcomes

(5+ years)

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Program Staff

Wellness Chairs

Materials – Promotion, Handouts, Research

Money – Printing, Incentive Program, etc.

Partners – Virginia Tech, Panhellenic, 13 Sororities

Time – Training, Teching, Developing

Conduct workshops

Organize events

Awareness of resources

Knowledge of health

Change in attitudes

Development of skills

Motivation to be healthier

Overall improvement of health in each Sorority

Increased physical activity

Increased nutrition in food choices

Decrease alcohol consumption

Change in behaviors

Practice better habits

Improve decision-making in terms of health

Social action to value wellness more

Social norm to be well

Evaluation Collect Process and Impact Data, Interpret, Report

Develop curriculum

Train staff and chairs

Demand for better resources from the community

Name of Program: G.R.E.E.K. Health