Up2Us is a national coalition of organizations that aim to use sports to reduce youth violence and promote health and academic success. Through the Coach Across America (CAA) program model, these organizations recruit and train AmeriCorps members as coaches, placing in low-income communities to act as adult role-models. Focusing on health outcomes, the evaluators specifically examined CAA’s ability to influence the physical activity, healthy decision-making, and nutrition habits of youth participants.

 The study found that program participants:

  • Significantly improved physical activity levels as well as reduced consumption of soda and fried potatoes;  
  • Showed an increase in manifesting prosocial behaviors and critical thinking skills; and
  • Significantly improved physical activity levels and fried potato consumption in accordance with the number of activities they took part in (i.e. linear correlation between dosage and outcomes levels).

 

Full report

Full Report
FR_Up2Us Coach Across America Final Eval_2014.pdf

Further information

Program/Intervention
Coach Across America
Implementing Organization
Up2Us
AmeriCorps Program(s)
AmeriCorps State and National
Age(s) Studied
6-12 (Childhood)
13-17 (Adolescent)
Outcome Category
Obesity and food
Study Type(s)
Outcomes
Study Design(s)
Non-Experimental
Level of Evidence
Moderate
Researcher/Evaluator
American Institutes for Research
Published Year
2014