Bridging the Gap: Research Informing Practice for Healthy Youth Behavior (No. 4)

The ImpacTeen project is conducted as part of the RWJF-funded Bridging the Gap (BTG) program and will build on BTG’s past/ongoing efforts and leverage the substantial investment the National Institute on Drug Abuse has made in the University of Michigan’s annual Monitoring the Future (MTF) Study. A number of tobacco-related research activities conducted during previous rounds of ImpacTeen will continue, such as the development and implementation of a system to collect state tobacco control expenditures data, annual updating of the ImpacTeen state-level tobacco control policy database, and fielding of the "Strength of Tobacco Control" survey in 2010.

The fourth round of ImpacTeen reflects a shift in focus from previous years of the project with the majority of funding devoted to data collection, analysis, and reporting on the policy, program, and environmental determinants of childhood and adolescent obesity. Activities that will continue with ImpacTeen 4 funding include the annual collection and coding of wellness policies in a nationally representative sample of school districts, annual conduct of the Food & Fitness primary school administrator survey, annual collection and reporting of state-level obesity-related policies, and the acquisition and analysis of commercial and archival databases. Annual monographs will be produced to highlight key data and trends emerging from the Food & Fitness primary school survey and school district wellness policy collection and coding efforts. In addition, for the first time since 2003, community data collection activities will resume in those communities surrounding second-year MTF schools, with a focus on assessing the community food environment, physical activity opportunities, local policies and other community factors potentially relevant to youth healthy eating, physical activity, and obesity.

Data collected from this broad range of ImpacTeen activities will be linked to the attitudinal, behavioral and health outcome data from the ongoing MTF survey, with the intention of documenting national trends and evaluating the impact of school-, community-, and state-level policies, programs, and other environmental influences on youth behaviors (nutrition, physical activity, and substance use) and on youth obesity.