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

Abstract Team Up for Healthy Livingwas a cluster-randomized trial to evaluate a cross-peer school-based obesityprevention 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 schoolLifetime Wellnessclasses. The focus of the curriculum was on improving diet and physical activity with anadditional emphasis on enhancing leadership and communication skills. Control group participants receivedtheir regularly scheduledLifetime Wellnesscurriculum. The current article is about the experiences of anundergraduate kinesiology student participating as a peer-facilitator in theTeam-Up for Healthy Livingtrial. Abrief overview of the program and peer facilitator training is followed by this students reflections on bothpersonal development and student outcomes. Keywords obesity, peer facilitator, prevention, student This article is available in International Journal of Health Sciences Education:http://dc.etsu.edu/ijhse/vol2/iss2/2