FORMATIVE RESEARCH IN A SCHOOL-BASED OBESITY PREVENTION PROGRAM FOR NATIVE-AMERICAN SCHOOL-CHILDREN (PATHWAYS)

This paper describes how formative research was developed and implemen ted to produce obesity prevention interventions among school children in six different Native American nations that are part of the Pathways study, The formative assessment work presented here was unique in sev eral ways: (1) it represents the first time formative research methods have been applied across multiple Native American tribes; (2) it is h olistic, including data collection from parents, children, teachers, a dministrators and community leaders; and (3) it was developed by a mul ti-disciplinary group, including substantial input from Native America n collaborators. The paper describes the process of developing the dif ferent units of the protocol, how data collection was implemented and how analyses were structured around the identification of risk behavio rs. An emphasis is placed on describing which units of the formative a ssessment protocol were most effective and which were less effective.