New approaches are needed when working in rural communities to identify and communicate holistic evaluation impacts related to community-based health promotion efforts of Cooperative Extension. Specifically, there is a lack of recorded long-term programmatic impacts of these programs, including behavior changes related to consuming nutritious and…

The issue of obesity continues to be a concern in the US. Throughout the years, research has shown that adopting healthier eating habits and increasing physical activity can help people lead healthier lives. Families of low socioeconomic status suffer disproportionately from poor health. Nutrition education programs have been successful in…

Objective: The objective of this research was to explore how accessible the concept of food and physical literacy is for health and well-being professionals, and assess its potential effect on service delivery. Design: Formative research and 'concept testing' with potential deliverers of food and physical literacy. Setting: Dumfries and Galloway,…

With an adult obesity rate of 35.6%, Alabama is the second most obese state in the United States. Alabama Extension and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) joined in the first collaboration between the CDC and land-grant institutions to prevent further incidence and reduce the prevalence of obesity. The objective of our study was…

This edition of "The State of the World's Children" report examines children, food and nutrition. It seeks to deepen understanding around the causes and consequences of children's malnutrition in all its forms and to highlight how governments, business, families and other stakeholders can best respond. Chapter 1 examines the changing…

Objective: This study investigated the feasibility of delivering health-related short text messages to parents with the goal of reducing obesity risk among their children aged 3--5 years. Design: Quasi-experimental design involving one experimental group of 17 parents. Setting: Rural American Indian reservation. Methods: During the 5-week…

Background: Effective childhood obesity prevention programs for preschool children are limited in number and focus on changes in the child care environment rather than the home environment. Purpose: The purpose of this project was to develop and test the feasibility of a home environment obesity prevention program that incorporates mindful eating…

Objective: Due to the disproportionately high rates of obesity within the US Hispanic community, there is a critical need to address this health disparity issue. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between parents' socio-demographic characteristics and their children's food consumption. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting:…

Engaging youth from racial and ethnic minority communities as leaders for change is a potential strategy to mobilize support for addressing childhood obesity, but there are limited curricula designed to help youth understand the complex influences on obesity. Our aim was to develop and pilot test a systems science curriculum to elicit rural…

Background: The Child Health Initiative for Lifelong Eating and Exercise is a multicomponent obesity-prevention intervention, which was evaluated among Head Start (HS) centers in American Indian and predominantly Hispanic communities in rural New Mexico. This study examines the intervention's foodservice outcomes: fruits, vegetables, whole grains,…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to test the feasibility of implementing a healthy lifestyles intervention to maintain or achieve healthy weight for low-income young adults in vocational education. Design/methodology/approach: Non-randomized, quasi-experimental feasibility test of a ten-week intervention with follow-up assessment designed…

Objective: Explore how urban and rural Minnesotans access the food system and to investigate whether community infrastructure supports a healthful food system. Design: Eight (4 urban and 4 rural) focus groups were conducted. Setting and Participants: Eight counties with urban influence codes of 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, and 10. Fifty-nine (urban, n = 27;…

Background: Obesity is a major concern among American Indians and Hispanics. The Child Health Initiative for Lifelong Eating and Exercise (CHILE) is an evidence-based intervention to prevent obesity in children enrolled in 16 Head Start (HS) Centers in rural communities. The design and implementation of CHILE are described. Methods: CHILE uses a…

Objective: To determine and compare the perspectives of the general public and health care providers (HCPs) on obesity and its treatment in rural West Virginia (WV) and Baltimore, MD. Method: Surveys were completed in both locations by the general public (WV: "n" = 200; Baltimore: "n" = 171) and HCPs (WV: "n" = 25;…

Despite limited empirical evidence, there is growing concern that junk food availability in schools has contributed to the childhood obesity epidemic. In this paper, we estimate the effects of junk food availability on body mass index (BMI), obesity, and related outcomes among a national sample of fifth graders. Unlike previous studies, we address…