Quit & Fit: Improving Health Among Rural Teens

West Virginia University: Centers for Public Health Research and Training

Topics:
Healthy Youth | Nutrition & Physical Activity for Youth | Tobacco Prevention & Control

The Quit & Fit project is related to ongoing efforts with smoking cessation for youth and the Not on Tobacco (NOT) program—the American Lung Association’s smoking cessation program for teens aged 14–19 years. The NOT program contains 10 weekly 50-minute sessions that are delivered in same-gender groups of no more than 12 teenagers, and conducted by same-gender facilitators. The center is enhancing NOT to include a self-help physical activity intervention (FITNESS module). The primary goal of this enhancement is to reduce smoking rates among rural youth; the secondary goal is to change sedentary lifestyles in rural communities. If effective, adding the FITNESS module will help youth be “quit and fit,” that is, help youth quit smoking and be physically fit as well.

The fitness module is being developed using input from students, community members, parents, teachers, and trained NOT facilitators. Approximately 45 schools across the state will participate during the course of the research. After implementing the Quit & Fit project, evaluators will assess the effects of the fitness module on participants’ physical activity levels, and determine if, and how physical activity affects quit smoking outcomes. If effective, it is expected that the enhanced program, like the original NOT program, can be offered through school settings with minimal costs to schools and counties.

 

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