Proposal Summary (Abstract)

The Girl Scouts of the Greater New York area is one of the largest girls-only youth and
leadership organizations in New York City. The organization serves as New York Citys regional
operation for the National Girl Scouts of America. The primary mission of the program is to
build lifelong skills, healthy habits, and promising futures for girls in the program. An important
factor towards a healthy and promising future is the knowledge and development of healthy
eating habits. Currently, in the United States, 17.1% of children and adolescents are overweight,
which can affect later life health outcomes.1 Nutrition education and development of healthy
eating patterns are essential to decreasing the likelihood of conditions related to unhealthy diets.
The grant will support a pilot program, which will implement a My Plate-Healthy Eating
Badge for the Girl Scouts of Greater New York. In accordance to USDA Dietary Guidelines for
Americans, five Girl Scout troops from the greater New York area will participate in a pilot
program that focuses on the five food groups represented on the My Plate diagram: fruits,
vegetables, grains, dairy, and protein. Each troop will participate in an activity related to each of
the five food groups. After completion of the activities, each troop will participate in a cooking
class where they will learn to cook a healthy meal that incorporates all of the food groups. At the
end of the program, each Girl Scout will receive a badge signifying successful completion of the
My Plate-Healthy Eating program.

Introduction:
The Girl Scouts of Greater New York is one of the largest girls-only youth and leadership
organizations in New York City. The organization serves as New York Citys regional operation
for the national Girl Scouts of America. Approximately 25,000 girls ages 5 to 17 participate in
the regional program.2 The organization strives to establish important life skills at an early age by
building courage, confidence, and character in young girls. The region is run by a council, which
reports to the National Girl Scouts of America. Girls are divided into specific troops based on
their age. A troop leader, who is usually a parent, heads each troop. This individual volunteers
their time as a leader of the group and is not paid for their services. When each girl completes an
activity in the area or skill she is working towards, she receives a badge to exhibit her
accomplishment.
One of the life skills important to the organization is healthy living. Developing healthy
eating habits early in life is important for girls to help them livelong, fulfilling lives. Currently,
girls participate in a variety of activities such as fitness classes and cooking sessions, which teach
and promote a healthy lifestyle. To promote healthy eating in accordance to USDA
recommendations, a Healthy Eating-My Plate badge will be introduced. The badge will
incorporate education about healthy eating from all of the food groups during meals, and will
promote a healthy lifestyle. The General Mills Foundation grant would be used to send the girls
to activities related to each of the five food groups such as grains, dairy, protein, fruits, and
vegetables. At the completion of the 5 activities, the Girl Scouts will learn how to cook a healthy
meal incorporating all of the food groups. The girls will then a earn a badge signifying their
completion of the program.

Problem Statement
Overweight and obesity are a major public health concern, and in the United States
17.1% of children and adolescents are overweight.1 Adolescent overweight and obesity has
important implications for future health outcomes. The importance of preventive measures such
as nutrition education are important in reducing the rate of adolescent overweight and obesity,
and improving the consumption of healthy foods. Nutrition education is shown to improve
attitude, behavior, and awareness of healthy food choices, such as fruits and vegetables in young
people.3 Currently, there is a lack of health and nutrition education in schools. Many schools
leave out the importance of food policies, hindering adolescent exposure to nutrition education to
children.4 The Girl Scouts of America is a very popular after school program for 2.3 million
school-aged girls, programs and activities planned for children would be extremely beneficial.5
The primary objective is to implement a My Plate-Healthy Eating badge program to teach
children the importance of good nutrition at an early age in the Greater New York area.
Objectives
Outcome
1. Increase knowledge of foods identified on the USDA My Plate by 30 percent compared
to girls who have not received the My Plate Badge.
2. Receive a mean program satisfaction rating of three (based on five point scale) after
completion of the badge.
3. Increase mean consumption of fruits and vegetables by half a serving in girls who
received the My Plate badge compared to those who have not received the My Plate
Badge.

Process
1. Girl Scout leaders will accompany the Girls Scouts in all activities planned in the My
Plate curriculum.
2. Each Girl Scout will cook a healthy meal based on the components of My Plate at the end
of program, prior to receiving the My Plate badge.
Methods
The pilot program targets all junior Girl Scouts ages 9-11. Five Girl Scout troops within
the Greater New York area (New York City) will be eligible to apply for the badge. The badge
must be earned by the entire troop; therefore, troop leaders must facilitate and accommodate
activities needed to earn the badge as a group. The badge will be promoted through newsletters,
emails and online on the Girl Scout of the Greater New York area website. The process of
earning the badge will take approximately five weeks for each troop to complete. During the first
year of implementation, troops that are selected to participate for the badge will be funded and
will complete each of the assigned tasks need to fulfill the requirements of the badge. The badge
will remain a permanent program of the organization. Requirements and goals of the badge will
change as USDA guidelines change.
Each troop will be given six months to earn the badge. The group can complete the badge
at a time that is convenient for their troop. Before the troop does any activities each girl will take
a pre-badge evaluation, which assesses their food preferences and knowledge of nutrition, and a
24-hour dietary recall. To earn the badge, each Girl Scout troop will conduct different tasks over
the six month time period, and will learn a new component of the My Plate diagram. The
components of the My Plate diagram that will be studied are fruits, vegetables, protein, grains,
and dairy. Each troop will visit similar sites so they learn the same information about each food

group. For the fruit component troops will go to a local farm. For the vegetable component
troops will plant their own vegetable in a potted plant first and then move it to a vegetable garden
when the plant matures. For the grain component, the Girl Scout troops will visit a bread factory
within the New York City area. For the protein component, troops will visit a butcher to learn
about meat and how it is cooked. For the dairy component, the Girl Scouts will visit a dairy farm
to learn how cows are milked. Lastly, to bring all the five components of the badge together, the
girls will prepare a properly portioned meal that follows the My Plate guidelines. The girls in the
troop will then be qualified to earn the badge. The troops will prepare this meal at a culinary
institution called Young Chefs Academy that is geared toward the education of adolescent
cooking skills. After the preparation of the meal the troop will complete a post-badge evaluation
that assesses food preferences and nutrition knowledge after learning about each dietary
component. The troop will also complete a post-badge 24-hr recall. After the completion of the
evaluation material, the troop will earn the My Plate badge.
Budget:
$2,000 (per troop) x 5 = $10,000
Vegetable Garden: $200
Tools, Soil, Seeds
Transportation
Gas money - $200
Bread Factory Tour - $400
Butcher - $100
Dairy Farm - $300
Fruit Farm - $200
Cooking Activity in a Young Chefs Academy
$400 per troop (estimating 20 girls per troop)

Badge Creation: $200 ($10 per Girl Scout)

TOTAL: $2000
Evaluation Criteria
Outcome:
1.
Implement a pre- and post-evaluation survey to the girls assessing food preferences and
nutrition related knowledge in accordance to USDA guidelines. Surveys will be sent to each
troop by mail to the Girl Scout leaders prior to badge activities and after successful completion
of badge. Once each Girl Scout completes the surveys, they will be submitted to the
headquarters of the Girl Scouts of the Greater New York area, and analyzed.
2.

Girls will complete a 24-hour recall (ASA24) pre- and post-badge to assess mean fruit
and vegetable intake. Troops will come to the headquarters of the Girl Scouts of the Greater
New York area where each girl will fill out the 24-hour recall using computers at the facility.
Staff at the Girl Scouts of Greater New York will collect data using an online 24-hour recall
system.

3.

Girl Scouts will take program satisfaction surveys assessing level of satisfaction with the
program and how it can be changed in the future. Surveys will be sent to each troop by mail to
the Girl Scout leaders after successful completion of badge. Once each Girl Scout completes
the surveys, they will be submitted to the headquarters of the Girl Scouts of the Greater New
York area, and analyzed.

Process:
1.

Girl Scout leaders will fill out a checklist to ensure proper completion of program
requirements. Checklists will be mailed to leaders. Leaders will then mail the completed
checklists to the headquarters of the Girl Scouts of Greater New York to ensure proper
completion of program requirements.

2.

Girl Scouts will document each activity they complete with a photograph at the activity
and a brief description of what they did. The documentation will be collected by troop leaders
and mailed to the headquarters of the Girl Scouts of Greater New York to ensure proper
completion of program requirements.

Timeline:

Future Funding:
Future funding for this program will come from the Girl Scout organization itself. In the
future, the My Plate badge program will begin to be incorporated into the curriculum of activities
that they girl scouts must complete. It will become an important component of the healthy living
section of the Girl Scout program. The funds that are needed for this program will be integrated
into the fundraising each troop does. This will be a requirement that all of the troops need to
meet. Within five years, this program will be expanded to all Girl Scout ages and all troops.
This will increase the money that is used for the My Plate badge because all Girl Scout troops
will be fundraising for this program. The fundraising would include the $10 cost for the badge.

References
1.
Ogden CL, Carroll MD, McDowell MA, et al. Prevalence of overweight and obesity in
the United States, 1999-2004. JAMA. 2006; 295 (13): 1549-1555
2.
Girl Scouts of Greater New York website. http://www.girlscoutsnyc.org/. Published 2012.
Accessed November 15, 2012.
3.
Taber, DR, Chriqui, JF, Frank JC. Association and Diffusion of Nutrition and Physical
Activity Policies on the State and District Level. J Sch Health. 2012.; 82: 201-209
4.
Rosenkranz R, Behrens T, Dzewaltowski D. A group-randomized controlled trial for
health promotion in Girl Scouts: Healthier Troops in a SNAP (Scouting Nutrition & Activity
Program). BMC Public Health. 2010; 10:81
5.
Wall, DE, Least, C, Gromis J, et al. Nutrition Education Intervention Improves
Vegetable-Related ATtitude, Self-Efficacy, Preference, and Knowledge of Fourth-Grade
Students. J Sch Health. 2011. 82: 37-43