Statewide Evaluation

Champions for Healthy Change

This study began as a three-year, longitudinal survey in 17 California local health jurisdictions. Data were collected in 2013, 2014, and 2015 from mothers, teenagers, and children in randomly-selected SNAP households. Two changes occurred in 2016, with the expansion of the survey to 30 local health jurisdictions and the change to a cross-sectional methodology. Telephone interviews include a comprehensive inventory of dietary behaviors during the previous day using the Automated Self-Administered 24-Hour (ASA24®) Dietary Assessment Tool (ASA24); types and levels of physical activities, and self-reported height and weight, which is used to calculate BMI.

Preliminary findings from our analyses of ASA24 responses collected in 2014 indicated that mothers from census tracts with higher levels of SNAP-Ed intervention reach reported consuming more fruits and vegetables, fewer calories from high-fat foods, and fewer sugar-sweetened beverages than did mothers from census tracts with low intervention reach and no reach (Molitor, Sugerman, & Sciortino, 2016). These correlational findings suggest that SNAP-Ed interventions may lead to more healthful eating. Intervention reach was defined as the number of persons participating in SNAP-Ed interventions divided by the total number of SNAP-Ed eligible persons in each census tract.

Molitor, F., Sugerman, S.B., & Sciortino, S. (2016, August). Fruit and vegetable, fat, and sugar-sweetened beverage intake among low-income mothers living in neighborhoods with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior (Article in Press).

Media Evaluation

This annual phone survey is conducted to examine outcomes of a public-education media campaign produced by NEOPB. Interviews with mothers from randomly selected households that are SNAP-Ed eligible address knowledge of MyPlate dietary guidelines, diet, and physical-activity behaviors. Respondents complete the interviews at two time points, before and during the statewide media campaign. Exposure to the media campaign is also assessed to determine whether any observed changes over time in personal-health-related behaviors are related to campaign exposure.