A telephone survey of 6,000 youth and their parents was conducted in 2002 prior to launching the VERB campaign and it was repeated among the same families in 2003. A rigorous analysis of the data collected made it possible to measure changes in physical activity attributed to the VERBTM campaign among youth ages 9-13 in the U.S. population.
“The results of this evaluation are impressive and substantiate that the VERBTM campaign has surpassed expectations and is responsible for improving physical activity levels among youth,” said CDC Director Dr. Julie L. Gerberding. “Our national, multicultural efforts are helping young people to realize that physical activity is fun, cool and can be a part of everyday life. This is critical to reducing the epidemic of overweight among today’s youth.”