The Childhood Obesity Declines Project: Implications for Research and Evaluation Approaches

Abstract

Background: Childhood obesity remains prevalent and is increasing in some disadvantaged populations. Numerous research, policy and community initiatives are undertaken to impact this pandemic. Understudied are natural experiments. The need to learn from these efforts is paramount. Resulting evidence may not be readily available to inform future research, community initiatives, and policy development/implementation.Methods: We discuss the implications of using an adaptation of the Systematic Screening and Assessment (SSA) method to evaluate the Childhood Obesity Declines (COBD) project. The project examined successful initiatives, programs and policies in four diverse communities which were concurrent with significant declines in child obesity. In the context of other research designs and evaluation schemas, rationale for use of SSA is presented. Evidence generated by this method is highlighted and guidance suggested for evaluation of future studies of community-based childhood obesity prevention initiatives. Support for the role of stakeholder collaboratives, in particular the National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research, as a synergistic vehicle to accelerate research on childhood obesity is discussed.Results/Discussion: SSA mapped active processes and provided contextual understanding of multi-level/component simultaneous efforts to reduce rates of childhood obesity in community settings. Initiatives, programs and policies were not necessarily coordinated. And although direct attribution of intervention/initiative/policy components could not be made, the what, by who, how, to whom was temporally associated with statistically significant reductions in childhood obesity.Conclusions: SSA provides evidence for context and processes which are not often evaluated in other data analytic methods. SSA provides an additional tool to layer with other evaluation approaches.

Childhood Obesity Declines Project: A Different Methodology

“…[14][15][16] The implications for research and evaluation are also described. 17 Exploration of the natural experiments that occurred in Anchorage, Granville County, New York City, and Philadelphia allows us to further understand what communities are doing and what may have contributed to declines in the prevalence of obesity. This study is only one piece in the large puzzle of questions in our understanding of ''What happened and how.''…”

Childhood Obesity Declines Project: An Effort of the National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research to Explore Progress in Four Communities

“…The other articles in this special issue present in-depth summaries and discussions of methodology, 16 key findings around the settings in which healthy eating and physical activity policies and broader strategies were implemented during periods of obesity declines, 17 for which specific local-and state-level policies were implemented across those different settings, 18 the ways in which strategies implemented within each community reflect the social-ecological model, 19 and implications for research and evaluation of community-based childhood obesity efforts. 20…”