Reflections from an Undergraduate Student Peer Facilitator in the Team Up for Healthy Living School-Based Obesity Prevention Project.

Abstract

Team Up for Healthy Living was a cluster-randomized trial to evaluate a cross-peer school-based obesity prevention program in Southern Appalachia. Undergraduate students from the disciplines of Kinesiology, Nutrition, and Public Health were trained as peer facilitators to deliver an 8-week curriculum in high school Lifetime Wellness classes. The focus of the curriculum was on improving diet and physical activity with an additional emphasis on enhancing leadership and communication skills. Control group participants received their regularly scheduled Lifetime Wellness curriculum. The current article is about the experiences of an undergraduate kinesiology student participating as a peer-facilitator in the Team-Up for Healthy Living trial. A brief overview of the program and peer facilitator training is followed by this students reflections on both personal development and student outcomes.