Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #115387

Lynn Fredericks¹, Mercedes Sanchez, RD², Candace R. Young, MS³, and Mindy Hu, RD³. (1) FamilyCook Productions, 330 East 43rd Street, Ste.704, New York, NY 10017, 212/867-3929, Lynn@FamilyCookProductions.com, (2) Family Nutrition Education, FamilyCook Productions, 135 Prospect Park West, Brooklyn, NY 11215, (3) Division of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, 2 Lafayette St., 20th Fl., Box 46, New York, NY 10007

Two large-scale nutrition education initiatives to prevent child overweight have been undertaken in different New York State communities utilizing the same hands-on culinary and nutrition program/curriculum, and funded by two different partnerships. The goals of the 12-week “Look Who's Cooking” after-school program and curriculum developed by FamilyCook Productions are to: 1) increase fresh fruit and vegetable consumption; 2) encourage families to cook more meals at home; and 3) encourage families to eat more meals together as a family; 4) elevate the community's capacity to model and encourage positive dietary changes in children by rigorous training of after school staff ; and 5) empower a community to combine resources across constituencies to effectively address and prevent child overweight. In Rochester, New York, the curriculum was piloted in 2004 and involved over 600 children and families. Successful implementation has resulted in program expansion to over 1,000 Rochester area families in 2005. The program is funded by Preferred Care, a local HMO and implemented by the YMCAs of Greater Rochester. Additional financial support is being contributed by Wegmans Food Markets. In 2005, The NYC pilot of the same curriculum was launched involving over 400 children and families in an initiative sponsored by the NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene, The After School Corporation, The YMCAs of Greater New York among other community-based partners. Pre and post-program surveys were administered and several focus groups were conducted. Preliminary findings indicate that: 1) the program is effective in increasing home cooked meals using fresh ingredients (e.g. fruits and vegetables) among participating families while lowering risk behaviors; 2) program efficacy is enhanced when financial responsibility and risk are undertaken across multiple partners; and 3) success is linked to program design which addresses both personal and environmental barriers (e.g. access to fresh food) to behavior change.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion, participants in this session will be able to

• Construct mechanisms within child overweight prevention program design to encourage the support of public-private community partnerships
• List the personal and environmental barriers that can be successfully addressed simultaneously within program design to prevent child overweight
• Utilize the most effective combination of strategies to influence family-wide behavior change that inhibits child overweight

Keywords: Public/Private Partnerships, Obesity

Related Web page: www.FamilyCookProductions.com

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation