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- Title
New Impact: A Community-Based Approach to Childhood Obesity Treatment.
- Authors
Schmalz, Dorothy L.; Griffin, Sarah F.; Blomquist, Kerstin K.; Reeves, Cara; Sease, Kerry K.
- Abstract
BACKGROUND Childhood obesity is one of the greatest public health concerns worldwide. Low-income children from diverse backgrounds in rural areas are most at risk, but many treatment programs are implemented in urban health facilities outside the communities where participants live. To date, many programs report high attrition, and show little success. This may be due to few programs utilizing personalized services that incorporate community based programming. OBJECTIVES New Impact, a childhood obesity treatment program in South Carolina, broke from standard treatment models by establishing partnerships with rural YMCAs to provide accessible, personalized programs. This study focused on what components of the YMCA partnership contributed to or constrained participants' engagement in health behaviors. METHODS Data were collected via one-on-one, semi-structured phone interviews with child participants of the program, and, in some instances, their parents. Data were coded by individual members of the research team, and cross-checked for continuity in the findings. RESULTS Effective elements of the program included the variety and one-on-one attention that programs at the YMCA provided. Ineffective elements included buy-in from all family members, and feeling intimidated by the size of the YMCA and other members. DISCUSSION Identifying effective childhood obesity treatment and prevention strategies is becoming an imperative. Lack of success with standard models of treatment indicate that innovative approaches are necessary. The New Impact program and the data presented here identifying effective and ineffective elements are preliminary to establishing effective collaborations with local and community partners as a viable direction to address the growing problem.
- Subjects
TREATMENT of childhood obesity; PUBLIC health; RURAL geography; PENANCE; ACQUISITION of data
- Publication
Recreation, Parks & Tourism in Public Health, 2019, Vol 3, p47
- ISSN
2474-1825
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.2979/rptph.3.1.05