Assessing childhood obesity programs in low-socioeconomic and diverse communities.
BACKGROUND
Childhood obesity disproportionately affects low-socioeconomic and diverse communities. After a national children's health care quality organization announced a request for programs addressing the prevention and treatment of childhood obesity, 80 programs were received. The objective of this study was to identify a best practice for addressing childhood obesity in low-socioeconomic and diverse communities.


METHODS
A secondary analysis of the 80 programs was conducted in spring 2007 using a framework developed after a mini literature review using PubMed and Google, a review of the recommendations from the 1998 national childhood obesity expert committee, and 5 semistructured interviews with childhood obesity key informants.


RESULTS
The key informants unanimously recommended that obesity reduction programs in low-socioeconomic and diverse communities should combine 4 themes: lifestyle changes, family-centeredness, prevention, and early community involvement. These 4 themes were combined in 50% of the 80 programs.


CONCLUSIONS
An evidence-based best practice for reducing childhood obesity in low-socioeconomic and diverse communities could not be identified utilizing the 4 themes recommended by the key informants. Preliminary data suggest that 1 academic program may offer promise for addressing childhood obesity in low-socioeconomic and diverse communities and improved data collection.
Griffith
Joan R
JR
Department of Pediatrics, University of Toledo Health Science Campus, Toledo, Ohio 43614-5811, USA. joan.griffith@utoledo.edu
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D009820:Ohio / Q000453:epidemiology; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors