The Healthy Campus Environmental Audits (HCEA) is a research project that uses a comprehensive series of audits to assess the university environment which may inform student/faculty behavior and choices in healthy lifestyles.
Introduction
The Healthy Campus Environmental Audits (HCEA) are a comprehensive series of audits looking at six different environments: policy, dining, recreation services, stores, vending, and walkability/bike-ability. The HCEA is being performed yearly at university campuses across the country to further understand the influence of the campus environment on student health.
Aim
These audits help determine the extent of campus environmental supports for health promotion and obesity prevention.
Design
The individual audits, supported by evidence-based research, focus on environmental factors that influence individual behavior relating to health promotion, food/dining decisions, physical activity education, and infrastructure. HCEA provide data to document, monitor, and advocate for changes to environmental and policy supports that facilitate health promotion. HCEA can be used at a variety of campus types such as work sites, schools, colleges/universities, hospitals, and communities.
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Campus Environment Demographics Audit: tracks geographic, demographic,
and environmental variable to provide perspective for understanding the other
Healthy Campus Environmental Audits.
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Healthy Environment Policies, Opportunities, Initiatives, Notable Topics Survey
(POINTS) Audit: evaluates the extent and quality of health promotion
and obesity prevention policies and interventions/pledges/initiatives for a campus
environment.
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Full Restaurant Evaluation Supporting a Healthy (FRESH) Dining Environment Audit
: evaluates the nutrition environment by assessing descriptions of food
and food preparation as well as the presence of other supports for making healthy
dining decisions.
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Physical Activity Campus Environmental Supports (PACES) Audit: evaluates
the recreation services (facilities and programs) for a campus environment and
the availability and extent of the environmental physical activity supports
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Convenience Store Supporting Healthy Environment for Life-promoting Food (SHELF)
Audit 3: evaluates the healthfulness of specific store types by evaluating
the presence of healthier foods and the availability and extent of other environmental
supports for making healthy food purchasing decisions.
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Healthfulness Vending Evaluation for Nutrient-Density (VENDing) Audit:
evaluates the nutrition environment of vending machine types using nutrient density
healthfulness scores and the presence of environmental supports that promote
healthy vending purchase decisions.
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Sneakers and Spokes Walkability/Bike-ability Audit (adapted from the
CDC and Prevention’s Healthier Worksite Initiative Walkability Audit): evaluates
the safety and quality of a campus’s walking and biking paths.
Outcome, Impact, & Future
This project assesses the university environment which may inform student/faculty behavior and choices in healthy lifestyles. It is funded by the WVU Research Corp with the partnership of 16 other universities to develop a scoring system that allows future students or parents to identify healthy campuses ranked against each other. The future goal of the audit is a user- friendly mobile application so that it can be easily, effectively and accurately used on other university campuses across the country.
Moving forward, each state in the HCRC multi-state group will be using the scoring system on surrounding restaurants and grocery stores. After the Environmental Audit tool has been validated for reliability and the scoring system has been perfected, it can be used to give a healthy rating score on any campus across the United States.
Acknowledgements
Publications & Presentations
* denotes Research Assistant Trainees in the Olfert Research Lab
Szymona K, Quick V,
Olfert M, Shelnutt K, Kattelmann KK, Brown-Esters O, Colby SM, Beaudoin
C, Lubniewski J, Maia AM, Horacek T, Byrd-Bredbenner C. The University Environment:
A Comprehensive Assessment of Health-Related Advertisements on U.S. Post-Secondary
Institution Campuses.
Health Education,
2012 Vol. 112 Iss:6pp 497-512
Horacek TM, Dede Yildirim E, Kattelmann K, Byrd-Bredbenner C, Brown O, Colby S, Greene G, Hoerr S, Kidd T, Koenings MM, Morrell J, Olfert MD, Shelnutt K, White A, Phillips B. Healthfulness of convenience stores mediated by college students’ meal intentions and energy from fat intake predicts their body mass index. (in review). Appetite 2018. in review
Koenings MM*, Horacek T, Kattelmann K, Byrd-Bredbenner C, Gurka M, Johnson M, Kidd T, Phillips B, Olfert MD. Prevalence of sugar-sweetened beverages in campus vending machines and college students’ weight status. 2018. in prep
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Horacek T, Szklany K, White A, Erdman M, Byrd-Bredbenner C, Brown-Esters O, Shelnutt
K, Morrell J, Kattelmann K, Koenings M,
Olfert MD. Development and Testing of a Healthy Campus Environmental
Audit and the LEAN Index. J Nutr Educ Behav, Kansas City, MO, July
2011.
Horacek T, Deleso K, Kattelmann K, Walsh, J, White J, Gurka M,
Olfert MD. Evaluation of the Healthfulness of University Campus Environments.
International Society of Behavior, Nutrition and Physical Activity (ISBNPA) Annual
Meeting, Ghent, Belgium, May,
2013.
Barr ML*, White JA*, Famodu OA*, Olfert MD. 'Get Fruved’ Healthy Campus Environmental Audit: Evaluating the Healthfulness of the Built and Food Environments on College Campuses. Appalachian Translational Research Network (ATRN). Charleston, WV. October 14-16, 2015. (Travel award $200)
Horacek T, Dede Yildirim E, Burke M, Shelnutt K, Olfert MD, Morrell J, Kidd T, Kattelmann K, Greene G, Colby S, Brown O, Bryd-Bredbenner C Franzen-Castle L. Assessing the healthfulness of campus dining environments using “Full Restaurant Evaluation Supporting a Healthy (FRESH) dining environment” tool. FNCE Annual Meeting Boston, MA October 2016.
Horacek T, Dede Yildirim E, White, A, Shelnutt K, Riggsbee K, Olfert MD , Morrell J, Kidd T, Kattelmann K, Franzen-Castle L, Bryd-Bredbenner C, Brown O. G. Greene. Convenience Store SHELF (Supportive Healthy Environment for Life-promoting Food) Audit Differences between College Campuses. FNCE Annual Meeting Boston, MA October 2016.
Morris AM, Barr ML, Famodu OA, Hagedorn RL, King SJE, Olfert MD. University Student Auditors Report on Experience and Impact of Campus Environmental Policies. SNEB Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA. July 30, 2016.
Morris AM, Barr ML, Famodu OA, Hagedorn RL, King SJ, Olfert MD. University Student Auditors Report on Experience and Impact of Campus Environmental Polices. West Virginia Family Medicine Conference. Morgantown, WV. September 2016.
Morris AM, Barr ML, Famodu OA, Hagedorn RL, King SJ, Olfert MD. University Student Auditors Report on Experience and Impact of Campus Environmental Polices. West Virginia Rural Health Conference. Logan, WV. October 2016.
Morris AA*, Barr ML*, Famodu OA*, Olfert MD. Thematic Analysis of Feedback from Student Researchers conducting a Healthy Campus Environmental Audit. Undergraduate Research Day at the Capitol (URDC), Charleston, WV, Feb. 25, 2016.
Simon M, Kattelmann K, Mathews A, Franzen Castle L, Greene G, White A, Brown O, Olfert MD, Byrd-Bredbenner C, Morrell J, Horacek,T. Developing a Tool to Measure Workplace and University Wellness and Obesity-Prevention Policies, Opportunities, Initiatives and Notable Topics: The POINTS Audit. FNCE Annual Meeting, Boston, MA October 2016.
Sowers MF, Colby S, Anderson Steeves B, Kavanaugh K, Zhou W, Hagedorn R L,
Olfert MD. Description of Content, Traffic Dosage, and Consumer Demographics
of Vending Machines on a College Campus.
Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. 49(7):S31, July
2017.