National Kidney Foundation of Michigan: Final PEACH Implementation and Impact Evaluation Report

The National Kidney Foundation of Michigan’s (NKFM) Project for EArly Childhood Health (PEACH) programs are a group of initiatives focused on families with young children in low-income, vulnerable communities in Michigan. PEACH’s initiatives provide education and coaching around healthy lifestyles for children and their parents.

Study Goals:

Overall, the final evaluation study aim is to investigate the relationships between Regie’s Rainbow Adventure® (RRA) program, health behaviors, and kindergarten readiness.

Research Questions:

The final evaluation included both implementation and impact studies. The research questions were:

• Implementation Questions:
  • Were the interventions implemented with fidelity?
  • What types of RRA content are most liked by participants?
  • How many people are reached through the media toolkit (MTK) via the RRA Facebook page?
  • What types of MTK content are most “liked”, “shared”, and “commented” on by Facebook participants?
  • How many people are reached through the MTK: NKFM.org Early Childhood page?
• Impact Questions:
  • Do children who participate in RRA have significantly higher fruit and vegetable consumption?
  • Do children who participate in RRA engage in more physical activity and less screen time?

Findings:

The evaluation found the following:

• The programs were implemented with fidelity; however, the implementation evaluation was negatively affected by low-response rates.
• There was no overall impact of the RRA program on fruit and vegetable consumption, physical activity, or screen time.
• When fruit and vegetable consumption included drinking 100 percent fruit juice, results suggest the RRA intervention increased fruit consumption among children in low enrollment centers but had little to no effect among children in high enrollment centers.

For more information, download the full report and appendices and the report brief.