142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

312801
Schools as leaders in a collaborative approach to childhood obesity prevention in Missouri

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Monday, November 17, 2014 : 1:50 PM - 2:10 PM

Deidre Griffith, MPH , Program Department, Missouri Foundation for Health, St. Louis, MO
Amy Stringer-Hessel, MSW , Program Department, Missouri Foundation for Health, St. Louis, MO
Jessi LaRose, MPH , Policy Department, Missouri Foundation for Health, St. Louis, MO
Dana Roberts , Healthy Schools Program, Alliance for a Healthier Generation, Washington, DC
Tamara Calise, DrPH, M.Ed , JSI Research and Training Institute, Inc., Boston, MA
Rhonda Smythe, MPH, MS, RD , Trailnet, St. Louis, MO
Robert Johnson , The PedNet Coalition, Columbia, MO
Data show that overweight and obesity disproportionately affects low-income children. In Missouri, 46.6% of children ages 10-17 with a family income below 100% Federal Poverty Level (FPL) are overweight or obese while the rate for those with incomes above 400% FPL is 21.5%[i]. Schools play a vital role in addressing obesity in children. They are a major food provider for children and can encourage or restrict opportunities for physical activity during key hours of the day.

In 2013, Missouri Foundation for Health launched Healthy Schools Healthy Communities (HSHC), an ambitious effort to decrease the rates of childhood obesity by 5% in targeted Missouri communities over a 5 year period, as measured by the BMI-for-age percentile.

HSHC builds heavily upon eight years of previous obesity prevention work in Missouri during which schools were identified as critical partners in addressing obesity.

HSHC is driven by schools and community collaborations as they develop robust action plans to address barriers to improved health.  In the first year of the initiative, thirteen school districts in eleven counties were engaged, representing approximately 13,000 K-8 children. All participating school districts have a 60% or greater free & reduced lunch rate, are located in a county where the childhood obesity rate is higher than the 17.1% midpoint of Missouri, and the vast majority are located in extremely rural areas.  Early evaluation tracking shows significant promise for fostering sustainable environments that support the prevention of childhood obesity in Missouri.

[i] National Survey of Children’s Health. Available at: www.childhealthdata.org

Learning Areas:

Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs

Learning Objectives:
Describe the process of inspiring school districts to take on health-related work, beyond the pressures of their daily academic commitments. Demonstrate the interplay of multiple national, state and local partners as a targeted childhood obesity prevention program is developed from the ground up. Discuss early evaluation results of the Healthy Schools Healthy Communities initiative to decrease childhood obesity in rural and urban Missouri school districts.

Keyword(s): Child Health Promotion, Obesity

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Deidre Griffith has over thirteen years of public health-related community engagement and capacity-building experience and enjoys working to improve youth health and career outcomes. At MFH, Deidre is tasked, along with the program Director, to develop and implement an ambitious long-term, multi-million dollar childhood obesity prevention initiative to decrease obesity rates among Missouri children in grades K-8, in targeted communities.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.