Smart Shopping - Adolescent Intervention to Improve Food Shopping Practices Whre You Live and Learn

The objective of this project is to develop and test the effectiveness of a Cooperative Extension enhanced intervention titled "Smart Shopping," aimed at improving the shopping practices of adolescents with the ultimate goal of increasing fruit and vegetable intake. To achieve this goal, we will conduct formative research (Year 1) via a community-wide analysis of the school, home and neighborhood food environments. In collaboration with Extension staff and faculty, this formative research will to provide insight into the development and enhancement of the “Smart Shopping” curriculum (adapted from the “Cook Together, Eat Together” Extension curriculum, Year 2). In Years 3-4, we will implement a randomized controlled intervention trial to examine the effectiveness of an intervention to improve adolescents’ purchasing and consumption behaviors. We will implement the trial in Year 3, and evaluate results in Year 4. Our education component will include training of University dietetics interns, graduate, and undergraduate students to implement and evaluate the intervention with oversight by project staff as part of their service learning requirements. This project is unique as it: 1) takes into account the role that school wellness policies have in food procurement during the day; 2) incorporates information from multiple levels of the social ecological framework (home, school, and community food environments, as well as the social influence of peers) to create an intervention that addresses influences on adolescents purchasing and consumption behaviors; 3) collaborates with Extension faculty and staff while enhancing an existing program; 4) utilizes and hones the skill sets of students in undergraduate and graduate level nutrition and dietetics programs.