Allison Smith Nutrition

Program

Allison Smith
Sorority Women at Virginia Tech
Oak Lane Community
G.R.E.E.K. Health
(Greek Resource to Eat Exercise & Know Health)
12/11/2009
HNFE 4624 Fall 2009

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Community Information

The Sorority Life at Virginia Tech Health Needs Assessment was

created and conducted by a group of HNFE 4624 Community Nutrition
students in Fall 2009. It was put together to assess the health status,
based on nutrition and physical activity, of the Panhellenic Greek
women at Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech has approximately 30,000
undergraduates. The student body is predominately white and the
gender distribution is roughly 16,000 males to 14,000 females. This
study targeted the 1,300 females at Virginia Tech that belong to a
Panhellenic Greek Organization, which makes up about 4% of the
entire student body and about 11% of the female students. Virginia
Tech’s sorority women demographics include an age range of 18-22
years, primarily Caucasian in race, middle class income and college
educated. The Greek women are distributed throughout 13 chapters
that have houses located on campus in the Oak Lane Community and
are a valuable segment of the Virginia Tech student population,
organization, history and tradition.

The needs assessment data was collected via a survey created

through the website www.survey.vt.edu and distributed over each
individual sorority’s listserv along with the purpose of the study and
description of the survey. The questionnaire was aimed at evaluating
the health status, existing knowledge in the fields of nutrition and
exercise and interest in potential health programs/facilities of the
sorority women. One hundred forty-eight individuals completed the
survey. Of these, 15 were HNFE students and 46 have taken a nutrition
related course. The survey yielded data the suggested a huge deficit in
knowledge and issues with the current health status of the females in
the Greek community.

One major problem that was revealed was that a great

percentage of the sorority women at Virginia Tech are not reaching the
United States Department of Agriculture Dietary Guideline goals for
fruit and vegetable intake for their age group. In addition, many of
them did not know about the health resources available to them or
were not utilizing them. The targeted population had a high
percentage of individuals that read food labels but many were not
using them correctly. There were excessive amounts of alcohol
consumed within this group and in many cases it affected their eating
habits. Finally, about a quarter of the women polled engaged in
physical activity once a week or not at all.

Community resources currently existing and available to all

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undergraduates at the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, VA include
the Heat Education and Awareness Team (HEAT), the Women’s Center,
Y.E.S. nutrition facts program, War Memorial Gym, McComas Gym,
group fitness instruction, HNFE 1004 Food and Nutrition and free
nutrition counseling at the Cook counseling center. A specific
community-related issue impacting the Virginia Tech sorority women is
a misuse of the current available programs, as they are not being
utilized to their fill capacity in the Greek and Oak Lane Community.
While the programs listed above are available, and in some cases
required, to be part of each chapter’s experience, interviews
conducted among girls of 7 different chapter revealed that they were
not employed consistently or at all in their sisterhood. More
assessment data is needed to learn why this lack of use/misuse is
occurring. Sororities may be unaware of the opportunities available,
experience conflicting views from their chapter members on taking
advantage of these programs, hold incorrect preconceptions of the
programs, have difficulty garnering chapter participation or are having
difficulty incorporating these resources into their chapter’s life. Despite
the need for additional data assessing specific reasons for this problem
and the pertaining community-related issues, it is clear from our initial
assessment that a majority of sorority women do not have an optimal
health status and lack of common nutritional knowledge despite the
fact that the necessary resources were available to them at Virginia
Tech.

There are additional resources outside of the Virginia Tech

campus in the surrounding Blacksburg Community. The built physical
environment of this area is optimal for an active life style. There are
numerous gyms and fitness clubs within a few miles of campus and a
community center. All the streets are lined with sidewalks and streets
will bike lanes. In addition, many of the neighborhoods features
walking trails. A little outside the town of Blacksburg, there are places
to enjoy the outdoors such as the New River and the Cascades. The
Blacksburg Farmers Market is a great local resource. No only does it
support the local community but somewhere to purchase fresh and in
season produce.

Sororities at Virginia Tech must follow the rules and regulations

of many different organizations and at different levels. The Panhellenic
Council is the governing body of all Sororities nation wide. It has a lot
of power over the policies and actions of these Greek organizations.
They set the standards for scholarship, philanthropy and social life. In
addition to this, each chapter has Nationals, which sets the rules for
that specific chapter nation-wide. Both of these organizations have a
lot of influence over the Sororities. In addition to Greek governing
bodies, Virginia Tech and local/state/national government have the

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ability to regulate the actions of these organizations. Mainly the due
that each member pays per semester funds these organizations. They
also receive support from Nationals and Virginia Tech in order to exist
on this campus.

Nutritional and Health Status

After reviewing the final survey results, several health and

dietary issues were found regarding the target audience. A primary
concern was an overall low intake of fruits and vegetables. The 2005
USDA Dietary Guidelines recommend that females age 18-22 should
consume 2 cups of fruit (4, ½ cup servings) and 2 ½ cups of
vegetables daily (5, ½ cup servings). It was found that 13% of the
members ate no servings of fruit at all, 33% ate 1 serving, 46% ate 2
servings, 5% ate 3 servings, and only 2% ate 4 servings. Vegetable
intake results were similar; 10% of the members are no servings of
vegetables at all, 21% ate 1 serving, 26% ate 2 servings, 22% ate 3
servings and only 10% ate 4 or more servings. Another concern is that
nutrition label knowledge is deficient. When asked what the first thing
that they look at on a food nutrition label, a high percentage of
individuals said the calorie amount, not taking into consideration
serving size, fat content and other nutrient. This survey revealed that
excessive amounts of alcohol were consumed within this group, 50% of
the participants self-reported drinking 6 or more beverages a week. In
addition to this, 74% said that they usually consume food during or
after drinking and 78% said that drinking affects their food choices the
following day. Finally, occurrence of physical activity was relatively
good but there is 24% that only attends the gym 0-1 day a week.

A positive finding is the apparent interest in education and

proposed programs regarding exercise and nutrition. Our results found
that 81% of the women would be interested in a gym in Oak Lane, 83%
would be interested in an exercise program, and 68% would be
interested in a nutrition program. This further reinforces the fact that
programs dedicated to health; nutrition and physical activity would be
beneficial and well received by the Chapter members.

These nutritional and health concerns affect the majority of

the Greek women. The survey revealed a lot of information about
specific aspects of health status and knowledge of the participants
polled. The survey included 148 responses, which is represents about
11% of the 1,300 members of the Panhellenic chapter women. The
survey was available to all 13 chapters and all of their members to
voluntarily participate. There is a chance that the population was not
accurately represented through the assessment. However, because
statistics indicate that the women in this population have similar

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demographics, it is acceptable to assume that these results are
representative of the entire community of Greek females.

Some contributors and risk factors were identified that seemingly

contribute to the finding in concern. Mainly, the lack of knowledge and
utilization of available programs is key to the decreased health and
physical activity of the sorority members. There are also contributing
socio-cultural factors related to our findings. For example, people with
similar interests tend to socialize together. Therefore, the sorority
members may be practicing positive health and nutrition behaviors if
the other members are and vise-versa. Another socio-cultural related
factor is the consumption of alcohol among sorority members. Alcohol
consumption often leads to negative health behaviors, such as
decreasing consumption of nutrient dense foods during and
immediately after drinking, as well as decreasing exercise behaviors.
The environment also plays a large role in the health habits of sorority
members. The required residency area for sorority members, Oak
Lane, is located on-campus but not very close to the campus dining
and fitness facilities. The fact that these facilities are not easily
accessible to the women contributes to their decreased exercise and
healthy food consumption. The combination of these mentioned
factors increases the likelihood of poor health behaviors and outcomes.

These dietary and physical activity habits affect the health of this
population in many ways. Many of these women are not getting all of
the necessary nutrients which could lead to deficiency, disease,
compromised immune systems, lack of energy and inability to properly
function in daily life. Physical activity is an essential aspect to a
healthy life. A lot of this community is not getting enough activity each
day which could lead to unwanted weight gain, decrease in lean
muscle mass, increase in fat mass, lack of energy, etc. The amount of
alcohol consumed by this population and is not only having negative
impacts on health but also is a safety risk. Through education and skill
building, this population can improve their dietary choices, increase
their physical activity and decrease their alcohol consumption. It is
important to make these changes to improve these women’s current
health but also to equip them with the skills and build healthy habits
for the rest of their lives.

Solutions

There are many possible community-based solutions to these

problems for individuals. One option would be to have a representative
visit each chapter every semester and inform them of all of the
available resources on campus and how to utilize them. This would
help to fix the problem of misuse of the current resources available to

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all undergraduates at Virginia Tech. Another option is to install a health
and wellness chair or committee into each chapter, whose purpose will
be to overlook the health and well being of their sisters and to promote
more positive health-related behaviors such as decreased drinking,
increased physical activity and better food choices.

Oak Lane is the center of Greek life for sorority women. It is the
location of the houses of all 13 chapters. It is also a central meeting
place for all of the Greeks for chapter meeting, philanthropy events
and other activities. In addition, about 40 women from each chapter
are required to live in each house, which makes Oak Lane the
residency of 520 sorority girls. The location is on campus but is to not
within walking distance of any of the dining halls or gyms, which is a
huge setback. A solution to this problem would be to build a gym
and/or dining within the community. This would significantly improve
the built environment of Oak Lane and benefit all of the Greeks who
coincide there.

It is evident that this community is utilizing the gym facilities and

dining halls that are available. By making these amenities even more
local and convenient to where these people live, it can only increase
their use. It was discovered during the interview with sororities that
some chapter already have a wellness chair on their executive board,
they just aren’t being employed. If this is a position in many chapters
already, they obviously realize the importance of health for all of the
sisters. I think it would be a great, easy solution to institute a wellness
chair/committee to all 13 chapters and to supply them with curriculum
to share with their sorority throughout the year. This curriculum would
involve information on nutrition and exercise, how to be a healthier
Greek, what resources are available and hands on practice for how to
implement the behaviors into their every day lives. In addition this
person would be responsible for organizing health related events such
as group exercise, healthy chapter dinners, inviting guest speakers,
hikes, etc.

The biggest challenge, in terms of these solutions, is money.

Virginia Tech would have to invest a lot of money into building a gym
and dining hall in Oak Lane. The cost of building these facilities will
essentially be passed down to the Greek organizations that live in the
community because they will be using this new gym and dining hall.
This would definitely lead to more expensive dues and may discourage
student from going through recruitment and joining a Greek
organization. It is very unlikely that this option is even plausible in the
near future. Installing a wellness committee into every chapter,
however, would have a lot less monetary challenges other than what it
takes to put together the plans and however much each chapter wants

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to allot from the budget to this committee. Challenges this option may
have include disinterest in adding this position (if it is not already
there), time to put the curriculum together, training the people who
will be delivering the information and basically getting the program to
initially pick up interest within the community.

PROGRAM

Target Audience and Community

The target audience of this program is the Panhellenic Sorority

Members at Virginia Tech. The program will take place in the Oak Lane
Community on campus because each chapter has a house in this
central location. It is the site for all of their chapter meetings,
sisterhood events and housing for about ½ of each chapter.

Description of the Program

Objectives and Goals

The goal of this program is to increase the knowledge and resources

and give Greek women the ability to lead healthy, happy lives. The
objective is to increase knowledge, increase physical activity, improve
food choices, and decrease alcohol consumption. Also, this program
will help to change the attitudes and social norms of this community.

Program

The Program is called G.R.E.E.K. Health, which stand for Greek

Resource to Eat Exercise & Know Health. Our slogan is “Getting the
Girls in Letters Looking Better”. The purpose of this program is in
increase the knowledge, improve the eating/drinking habits, and
increase physical activity in order to improve the overall health of all
chapter members and the Greek community. This will be done in
through a multi-activity program sponsored by Virginia Tech, the
Panhellenic Council and each of the 13 chapters. All chapter members
will be required to complete a set of online classes to enhance their
knowledge on the subject of health. It will consist of 3 topics nutrition,
physical activity and alcohol consumption (see lesson plan attached).
Each chapter will employ a Wellness Chair, if they do not already have
one, and at each weekly chapter meeting this sister will present a
planned mini workshop on different aspects of health such as available
resources, making go choices in the dining halls, being active outside
of the gym etc. There will be 15 weeks of lessons given to the chair
with a plan of what to discuss and handouts for the chapter. This chair
will also be responsible for planning monthly active chapter events and

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work with the other chairs to plan Greek wide health events at least
once a semester such as 5Ks, hiking trips, healthy dinners, etc. In
addition to the lessons online and Wellness chair workshops and
events, the sister will be asked to fill out a weekly survey about how
much physical activity and how many healthy eating days they had
this week. They will receive points for each of these areas and then at
the end of each month the participants will receive one dollar for every
point they earned that will be put onto a gift certificate to be used at a
sporting good store. They can earn enough money to buy things such
as work out clothes, weights, shoes, iPods, etc. At the end of each
semester the chapter that received the most points will be recognized.

Collaborations

For this program to work, collaborations with other on campus

organizations will have to be made. The Panhellenic Council is the
governing body over the 13 chapters that reside in the Oak Lane
Community. They plan a lot of the programs available to Greeks such
as study hours, socials and philanthropy. This program could be
incorporated into Greek life through them. We also need to work with
all 13 chapters to make this a team effort. If everyone is involved it can
be a community wide program rather than a chapter-by-chapter
activity.

Behavior Change Model

I chose to use the Theory of Planned Behavior as my model for

this program. This theory is based on the idea that an individual will
perform a certain behavior based on their perceived behavioral
control. This perceived behavior control is influenced by the
opportunities, resources and skills necessary to perform the
behavior. Another aspect of this theory is the intent to perform a
behavior, which is influenced by a person’s attitude toward the
behavior and social environment or subjective norm. This theory
works will with my community because the program that has been
developed has the ability to influence perceived behavior control by
educating these individuals about the available opportunities,
resources and teach them the skills they need to lead a healthy
lifestyle. This program also works with the group as a whole, which
will help to change the attitudes of the participants and shift the
social norm toward a healthier lifestyle.

Theory of Planned Behavior

Behavioral Model Construct How you Incorporated this Construct into Your
Program

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Behavioral belief This program will make the individuals
more aware of the consequences of poor
health practices short and long term
Attitude toward behavior This program will help the individual to
value the performance of the positive
behaviors
Normative belief This program will change the normative
belief of the individual by obtaining the
support of their families and peers. By
doing this, the perception of the behavior
will be more positive.
Subjective norm This program will make the subjective norm
be to perform the positive health behaviors
by working with the entire community. By
changing the attitude of the entire social
network, transformation will be much more
prevalent.
Perceived behavior control This program will equip the participants’
will the necessary knowledge and resource
to perform the desired behaviors. By doing
this we will give them the ability to change
and help improve the perceived behavioral
control.
Behavioral intention By developing the attitude toward the
behavior, subjective norm, and perceived
behavioral control of the participants, this
program will also boost the individual’s
readiness to perform the behavior.

Resources and Handouts

Logic Model

See attachment.

Lesson Plan, Point-of-Purchase Materials, and/or Sample Promotional

Items

See attachment.

Handouts

See attachment.

Evaluation

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Evaluation Plan

I plan to evaluate the accuracy and effectiveness of my program by

monitoring the behaviors of the community by observations, surveys
and self-report. The participants will be filling out a weekly survey on
their physical activities and eating habits that will be used for the
incentive program. This information will be a valuable tool in assessing
the program. There will also be information from the study modules
that can be used to determine how much the women have learned
through that education tool. The needs assessment survey will be
administered again at the end of the semester to see if we have met
out goals and if the needs of the community have been met. Using
online surveys to assess the program works well because it is quick,
easy, and electronic and everyone has access to it.

Learning Objectives and How will you evaluate

Proposed Behavioral progress toward each of
Outcomes/Impacts for your these?
Program
Increased knowledge Assessment after each study
module
Improved food choices Self report
Increased physical activity Monitor gym visits via Hokie
Passport
Decreased alcohol consumption Self-report
Overall improvement of health Survey (same as needs
within community assessment) and questionnaire of
the results of the program after
each year

Evaluation Samples

End of Semester Assessment Survey

https://survey.vt.edu/survey/entry.jsp?id=1257361438127

Weekly Incentive Program Survey

https://survey.vt.edu/survey/entry.jsp?id=1260567473368

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Appendix

References:

About Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech Website. 2009. Accessed Nov 19,
2009. Available at: http://www.vt.edu/about/index.html

Health Education and Awareness Team. Virginia Tech Website. 2009.

Accessed Nov 19, 2009. Available at:
http://www.healthcenter.vt.edu/HE/heat/index.htm

Student Programs, Dining: Nutrition/Y.E.S. Program. Virginia Tech

Website.2009. Accessed Nov 19, 2009. Available at:
http://www.studentprograms.vt.edu/yes/

Virginia Tech Panhellenic Council. Virginia Tech Website.2009.

Accessed Nov 19, 2009. Available at: http://www.vtphc.com/

Department of Recreational Sports. Virginia Tech Website.2009.

Accessed Nov 19, 2009. Available at: http://www.recsports.vt.edu/

Survey.vt.edu. Virginia Tech Website.2009. Accessed Nov 8, 2009.

Available at: http://www.survey.vt.edu/

Women’s Center at Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech Website.2009.

Accessed Nov 19, 2009. Available at: http://www.womenscenter.vt.edu/

2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans: Key Recommendations for the

General Population. USDA Website. 2009. Accessed Nov 19, 2009.
Available at:
http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/DietaryGuidelines/2005/2005D
GPressRelease.pdf

2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. HHS Website. 2009.

Accessed Dec 11, 2009. Available at:
http://www.health.gov/paguidelines/

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SAMPLE PROMOTIONAL ITEM

Greek Resource to Eat Exercise & Know Health

G.R.E.E.K. Health is a student run organization that strives to improve

the overall health of the Greek Community

The G.R.E.E.K. Health Program offers:

• Training for your wellness chair on how to motivate and train
your chapter
• Planned active events for all of the sororities to participate in
• Interactive study modules to enhance the health education
experience
• Incentive program to reward participants for getting fit and
eating right

Benefits:
• Improved health of the Greek community
• Improved chapter morale
• Social interaction
• Learn healthy habits and build skills for a healthy and happy
future
• Leave a healthy legacy!

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LESSON PLAN

Self Study Module

Each section will feature a lesson, how it affects your health,

interactive activity, skill building and a quiz at the end.

Eat Your Way to Health

This section will focus on how what you eat affects your health, the
costs of making poor food choices and the benefits of making healthful
ones. This section will also go over the basics of a nutritious diet, an
interactive section where they will choose the better food option called
“What not to eat”. Finally there will be a quiz and at the end a list of
resources pertaining to eating well.

Go Greek, Get Moving

This section will focus on how physical activity affects your health. It
will go over the costs of living a sedentary lifestyle and the benefits of
being active. This section will also go over the basic physical activity
requirements for their age group and include a list of activities outside
of the gym that are active. The activity will guide them through
assessing their current body composition to determine where they are
and then give tips of how they can improve through activity. Finally
there will be a quiz and at the end a list of resources pertaining to
being active.

Chugging Calories: Drinking and Your Health

This section will focus on how alcohol consumption affects your health.
It will go over the costs of excessive drinking and the benefits of
reducing intake. This section will also go over the calorie content of
popular alcoholic drinks and tips on how to reduce your consumption
and how to help your sisters and friend do the same. The activity will
be to determine the calories in a drink and compare it to the exercise
amount that would be necessary to burn it off. Finally there will be a
quiz and at the end a list of resources pertaining to healthier drinking
habits.

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LESSON PLAN

Chapter Meetings Lesson Plan Outline by Week

1. Introduction of G.R.E.E.K. Health Program

2. Introduction to Nutrition
3. Introduction to Physical Activity
4. Pros to Healthy Eating
5. Pros to Physical Activity
6. How to Eat Healthier at Home
7. How to Eat Healthier on Campus
8. What Not to Eat
9. Chugging Calories
10. How to be More Active
11. Drink Water!
12. Help a Sister Out: How to Get Your Sisters on Track
13. Building Community: Healthy, Happy, Greek
14. Greek & Healthy for Life: Lifestyle Changes for the Future
15. Summary

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Sample Handout

Eating healthy can be fun and delicious. You don’t have to

sacrifice the things you like to improve your diet. Just follow
these easy tips!

• Substitute white for whole wheat whenever you can. Wheat

bread has more flavor and more nutrients.
• Eat the rainbow! Try to have a lot of colors in your meal by
choosing a variety of fruits and vegetables.
• Sub full fat dairy products such as cheese, sour cream, milk, etc.
for the low fat or nonfat version. This cuts back on the calories
and doesn’t affect the flavor.
• Look for the “light” version. Almost every product has one and
many of them taste very similar to the original product but save
you in fat, carbohydrates and/or sugar.
• Portions! Eat whatever you want just make sure that the portion
is moderate. It’s O.K. to have the pie and eat it too, just make
sure it’s a slice!

Check out: www.FoodNetwork.com

This is a great resource to look up new and yummy recipes. The site
has a “Healthy Eating” section with tons of recipes to try. You can even
search the recipes based on nutrition, ingredients, cuisine and meal
part!

Nutritious and Delicious Books

Eat This Not That! Supermarket Survival Guide: The No-Diet

Weight Loss Solution

By David Zinczenko

Hungry Girl: 200 Under 200: 200 Recipes Under 200 Calories

By Lisa Lillien

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Cooking Light Complete Cookbook: A Fresh New Way to Cook

By The editors of Cooking Light Maganize

Name of Program: G.R.E.E.K. Health

Initial Intermediate
Long Term
Inputs Activities Audience
Outcomes (1-3 years) Outcomes (3 –5 years)
Outcomes (5+ years)

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Conduct Change in behaviors

Program Awareness of resources
workshops
Staff

Knowledge of health Practice better habits

Organize events
Wellness
Chairs
Change in attitudes
Improve decision-mak
in terms of health
Develop curriculum
Development of skills
Materials –
Promotion, Social action to value
Handouts, wellness more
Train staff and
Research
chairs Motivation to be healthier

Demand for better

resources from the
Money – Overall improvement of health
community
Printing, in each Sorority
Incentive
Program, etc.
Social norm to be wel
Increased physical activity
Partners –
Virginia Tech,
Panhellenic,
13 Sororities Increased nutrition in food
choices

Time –
Training,
Decrease alcohol consumption
Teching,
Developing

Evaluation Collect Process and Impact Data, Interpret, Report

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