Objective: To evaluate the impact of a youth-led nutrition intervention on youth-leaders themselves.
Design: Mixed methods, including: in-depth interviews and a quasi-experimental quantitative study comparing youth-leaders and nonparticipant comparison youth.
Analysis: Qualitative analysis using direct content analysis. Difference-in-differences analyses assessing quantitative program impact.
Results: Youth-leaders perceived that the intervention impacted themselves, the youth-participants, and their respective social networks. Youth-leaders experienced greater increases in intentions to eat healthfully (p=0.04), and greater decreases in support for healthy eating from their friends (p=0.01), than the comparison group.
Conclusions/implications: Youth-leaders reported multiple levels of intervention impact, and increased intentions for healthy eating; however, additional research is needed to enhance impact on behavioral outcomes.
Keywords: Adolescent; African-American; Mentoring; Mixed-Methods; Nutrition; Obesity; Peer-led; Youth-led.