The California Endowment's Healthy Eating, Active Communities program: a midpoint review.
OBJECTIVE
We conducted a midpoint review of The California Endowment's Healthy Eating, Active Communities (HEAC) program, which works in 6 low-income California communities to prevent childhood obesity by changing children's environments. The HEAC program conducts interventions in 5 key childhood environments: schools, after-school programs, neighborhoods, health care, and marketing and advertising.


METHODS
We measured changes in foods and beverages sold at schools and in neighborhoods in HEAC sites; changes in school and after-school physical activity programming and equipment; individual-level changes in children's attitudes and behaviors related to food and physical activity; and HEAC-related awareness and engagement on the part of community members, stakeholders, and policymakers.


RESULTS
Children's environments changed to promote healthier lifestyles across a wide range of domains in all 5 key childhood environments for all 6 HEAC communities. Children in HEAC communities are also engaging in more healthy behaviors than they were before the program's implementation.


CONCLUSIONS
HEAC sites successfully changed children's food and physical activity environments, making a healthy lifestyle a more viable option for low-income children and their families.
Samuels
Sarah E
SE
Samuels & Associates, Oakland, CA 94612, USA. sarah@samuelsandassociates.com
Craypo
Lisa
L
Boyle
Maria
M
Crawford
Patricia B
PB
Yancey
Antronette
A
Flores
George
G
D000293:Adolescent; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D015444:Exercise; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D015438:Health Behavior; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D011204:Poverty Areas; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012574:Schools