Project SoL—A Community-Based, Multi-Component Health Promotion Intervention to Improve Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Practices among Danish Families with Young Children Part 2: Evaluation

Bent Egberg Mikkelsen, Paul Bloch, Helene Christine Reinbach, Tine Buch-Andersen, Lise Lawaetz Winkler, Ulla Toft, Charlotte Glümer, Bjarne Bruun Jensen and Jens Aagaard-Hansen
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Bent Egberg Mikkelsen: Department of Learning and Philosophy, Aalborg University, Copenhagen DK-2450, Denmark
Paul Bloch: Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen, Health Promotion, Niels Steensens Vej 6, DK-2820 Gentofte, Denmark
Helene Christine Reinbach: Department of Development and Planning, Aalborg University, Copenhagen DK-2450, Denmark
Tine Buch-Andersen: Department of Development and Planning, Aalborg University, Copenhagen DK-2450, Denmark
Lise Lawaetz Winkler: Research Centre for Prevention and Health, Capital Region, Glostrup DK-2600, Denmark
Ulla Toft: Research Centre for Prevention and Health, Capital Region, Glostrup DK-2600, Denmark
Charlotte Glümer: Research Centre for Prevention and Health, Capital Region, Glostrup DK-2600, Denmark
Bjarne Bruun Jensen: Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen, Health Promotion, Niels Steensens Vej 6, DK-2820 Gentofte, Denmark
Jens Aagaard-Hansen: Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen, Health Promotion, Niels Steensens Vej 6, DK-2820 Gentofte, Denmark

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 7, 1-15

Abstract: Project SoL is implemented over a period of four years with the aim to promote healthy eating and physical activity among children aged 3–8 years by targeting the families in a Danish municipality based on the multi-component, supersetting strategy. Interventions are implemented in childcare centres, schools and supermarkets in three local communities as well as in local mass media and social media during a 19 months period in the Municipality of Bornholm. The matching Municipality of Odsherred serves as a control site based on its similarity to Bornholm regarding several socio-demographic and health indicators. The present paper gives an account of the design used for the summative and formative evaluation based on a realistic evaluation and a mixed methods approach combining qualitative and quantitative methods. Summative studies are conducted on changes of health behaviours among the involved families and within the municipalities in general, changes in community awareness of the project, changes in purchase patterns, changes in overweight and obesity among the targeted children and changes in knowledge and preferences among children due to sensory education workshops. The formative research comprises studies on children’s perceptions of health, perceptions of staff at supermarkets and media professionals on their roles in supporting the health promotion agenda, and motivations and barriers of community stakeholders to engage in health promotion at community level. The paper discusses operational issues and lessons learnt related to studying complex community interventions, cross-disciplinarily, interfaces between practice and research and research capacity strengthening; and suggests areas for future research. The development and implementation of the intervention and its theoretical foundation is described in a separate paper.

Keywords: action research; children; healthy eating; community-based; multi-component interventions; complex interventions; cross-disciplinarity; realistic evaluation; settings (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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