Recorded presentation

Jill Center, MPH, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), National Institutes of Health, 31 Center Drive, Room 2A32, Bethesda, MD 20892, 301-435-3457, centerj@mail.nih.gov

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) has designed, field-tested, and is currently disseminating a curriculum and supporting materials for their Media-Smart Youth program for youth ages 11-13 years old. In response to the increasing rates of overweight and obesity in the United States, the NICHD initiated the Media-Smart Youth program to: encourage young people to establish physical activity and healthy eating as a values in their lives, empower youth to discern how media may influence choices concerning their health, and provide youth an opportunity to develop local campaigns about physical activity and nutrition for their peers.

The Media-Smart Youth curriculum is designed to create awareness of the role that media play in shaping values concerning physical activity and nutrition, while building skills to encourage critical thinking, healthy lifestyle choices, and informed decision making, now and in their future.

The NICHD worked with the Academy for Educational Development and with youth-serving organizations and after-school programs in seven sites around the country to design and field-test the curriculum. As part of the program, young people work with a media partner to learn media production skills that enable them to plan and create media messages about nutrition and physical activity for their peers.

This presentation will include an overview of the Media-Smart Youth program, present results from the national field-test, display some of the youth-designed media projects, and inform audience members how the program can be implemented in after-school programs.

Learning Objectives:

• 1. The audience will learn the results of NICHD’s 10-site pilot test of the Media-Smart Youth curriculum -- a nutrition, physical activity, and media literacy curriculum for youth ages 11-13 years old.
• 2. The audience will learn how after-school programs have worked with a media partner to teach young people media production skills resulting in youth-designed health messages for their peers.
• 3. The audience will learn how NICHD’s Media-Smart Youth program can be implemented in after-school settings to teach young people to be more savvy consumers of media and to make healthy choices with regard to food and physical activity.

Keywords: Obesity, Media Literacy

Related Web page: www.nichd.nih.gov

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation