Children's Power Play! Campaign Research and Evaluation

The Network for a Healthy California — Children's Power Play! Campaign model was developed through careful formative research and proven effective through a large-scale evaluation study. The Children's Power Play! Campaign conducts process evaluation on an ongoing basis and uses data from the biennial California Children’s Health Eating and Exercise Practices Survey to continue to assess its effectiveness.

Evaluation Study
A large-scale evaluation study funded by the National Cancer Institute and Centers for Disease Control was conducted in 1995. The study measured the effectiveness of the Children's Power Play! Campaign when implemented through schools, as well as the effect of supplementing the school-based activities with activities in other community channels. The results indicated that the Children's Power Play! Campaign, when implemented through schools alone, positively influenced children’s knowledge and attitudes, and increased fruit and vegetable consumption by 7 percent. When a multi-channel, community-wide approach supplemented the school activities, fruit and vegetable consumption increased 14 percent. The study’s control site showed a 12 percent decrease in consumption over the study period. The Children's Power Play! Campaign’s current design is based upon the multi-channel, community-level approach proven successful through the study. A Key Findings Report is available for download (PDF, 2MB).

California Children’s Healthy Eating and Exercise Practices Survey
The California Children’s Healthy Eating and Exercise Practices Survey (CalCHEEPS), a biennial statewide survey of 9- to 11-year-old children, provides dietary and physical activity information and helps to guide the Children's Power Play! Campaign’s future direction. Information about CalCHEEPS and downloadable versions of the survey’s reports and data can be obtained in the Research and Evaluation Statewide Surveys section

Formative Research
The Children's Power Play! Campaign conducted extensive formative research during its development phase in 1993, and continues to conduct formative research as needed to ensure continued appeal and relevance to the target audience. In 2007, the Children's Power Play! Campaign conducted focus groups with 9 to 11 year old children and middle school youth to test the new california Champions for Change brand, the new national Fruits & Veggies — More Matters! brand, Harvest of the Month materials, and social marketing concepts for middle schoolers Executive Summary (PDF). In 2002 the Children's Power Play! Campaign conducted focus groups with 9- to 11-year-old boys and girls(PDF), primarily to assess motivators and barriers to increased fruit and vegetable consumption. In 2003, Children's Power Play!Campaign also conducted dyad interviews with 6- to 8-year-old children(PDF) to test key messages and graphics.