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Youth Risk Behavior Surveys
Since 1988, Macro has assisted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with the surveys that furnish data for the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System. This school-based biennial survey monitors health-risk behaviors among youth in the United States, from a national sample of 12,000 to 16,000 students. Our services have included designing the samples, identifying and recruiting participating schools, recruiting and training field teams to administer the questionnaires, collecting and processing the data, and organizing and presenting the results.
On behalf of the CDC, we have surveyed 9th to 12th graders in public and private schools in the 50 States and the District of Columbia every 2 years. The 2001 survey had more than 13,000 respondents. We handle all facets of the survey including sampling; district, school, and field staff recruitment; field staff training and supervision; data collection and processing; and analysis of survey results and trends.
In 1998, we extended the reach of the YRBS by taking the survey into alternative and continuation high schools. Macro attained a high rate of participation despite the severe social, behavioral, and learning problems these students often exhibit. In addition to the national survey, we have conducted YRBS for several State and local education and health agencies.
Large Survey Supports Cross-National Comparison
For a World Health Organization-sponsored 30-nation study on the health behaviors and attitudes of youth, Macro conducted a survey of 25,000 students in the United States. The study supports cross-national comparisons of U.S. children versus their counterparts in other nations to gauge the relative strengths and weaknesses of U.S. youth. This is unique by most standards for U.S. surveys of health behavior, as it attempted to explore the psychosocial determinants of health behavior in the hope that this understanding could facilitate more effective targeting of public and private efforts to address health behavior.
Nutrition Pilot Program Multi-Mode Evaluation
For the Economic Research Service (ERS) at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Macro conducted an evaluation of the Fruit and Vegetable Pilot Program (FVPP). In four Midwest States, we conducted personal interviews with students, school principals, teachers, food service staff, and State agencies; and telephone interviews with parents of the schools selected for site visits. Macro also analyzed the monthly claim form reporting data from 106 of the pilot schools and the interim reports submitted by 105 of the pilot participants. Recent Federal legislation authorized the FVPP to make fresh and dried fruits and fresh vegetables available free to children during non-lunch periods in selected elementary and secondary schools—in Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and Ohio, and one Indian reservation—to test the feasibility of such a program and gauge student interest. Within each State, 25 schools participate in the FVPP, in addition to six schools of the Zuni Tribal Organization in New Mexico.
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