Supplement overview: what the Healthy Communities Study is telling us about childhood obesity prevention in U.S. communities

Abstract

Summary The Healthy Communities Study (HCS), conducted between 2010 and 2016, tells a real‐world story of how childhood obesity prevention efforts have unfolded in 130 U.S. communities. The study documented nearly 10,000 current and past community policies and programs (CPPs) and assessed dietary and physical activity behaviors, weight, height, and waist circumference of more than 5,000, 4‐ to 15‐year‐old children. The articles in this HCS supplement describe the variables created to characterize the CPPs, CPP relationships with children's behavioral and weight status, other analyses of interest, and recruitment challenges. Findings suggest that many of the strategies being implemented work as intended to improve children's behaviors and weight status. However, of concern, findings also indicate lesser reach to children in demographic groups at highest risk of obesity. Overall, the HCS insights can guide the next phase of efforts to strengthen existing CPPs and motivate other, novel approaches to combating childhood obesity.

Diet and Physical Activity Behaviors of Families Receiving Maternal and Child Health Services: The Perspective of the Home Visitor

“…In the United States (U.S.), these behavioral risk factors and NCDs are more prevalent among low-income individuals and many racial and ethnic minority groups ( Wang & Chen, 2011 ; Hawes et al, 2019 ; Schiller et al, 2012 ). Due to multiple socio-ecological barriers, evidence-based interventions to improve diet and physical activity patterns have had limited impact for these higher-risk populations, prompting calls for tailored interventions ( Story et al, 2008 ; CDC, 2020 ; Bull et al, 2018 ; Morales et al, 2014 ; Ritchie et al, 2018 ; Kumanyika, 2018 , 2019 ).…”

Implementation of the JOIN for ME Program for Families from Low-Income Backgrounds: The Use of Theory-Driven Formative Evaluation: Rhode Island CORD 3.0

“…Kumanyika provides evidence of this phenomenon occurring within pediatric obesity prevention interventions, with high-risk demographic groups not seeing the same benefits in diet and physical activity improvements as more privileged groups of children. 24 One key recommendation to combat health inequities within interventions implemented into real-world settings includes giving adequate consideration to the contexts in which the intervention will be implemented. 22,23 This can occur through the formation of strategic and collaborative partnerships with organizations and stakeholders outside traditional health settings, such as housing or transportation.…”

Learning More from What We Already Know About Childhood Obesity Prevention

“…As described elsewhere, the Healthy Communities Study, a nationwide observational study of body mass index changes associated with delivery of recommended interventions, found that the favorable results were observed in the northeast but not in other regions and were only observed in higher income white communities and not shared by lower income, African American, or Hispanic children or communities. 20 This might have resulted from differential community capacity to implement the interventions or differential uptake due to contextual factors. A taxonomic approach such as that used for COEB would facilitate identification and analysis of contextual variables through…”