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

Abstract #117486

Susanne Schmal, MPH, Department of Community and Family Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, DUMC 2914, Durham, NC 27710, 919.681.5724, susanne.schmal@duke.edu, Lauren Whetstone, PhD, Department of Family Medicine, East Carolina University, Brody School of Medicine at ECU, Department of Family Medicine, Research Division, Lakeside Annex 5, Greenville, NC 27858, and The Duke/ECU Childhood Overweight Collaborative, Duke University Medical Center and East Carolina University, Department of Community and Family Medicine, DUMC 2914, Durham, NC 27710.

Childhood overweight has reached epidemic proportions and North Carolina is leading the way in addressing this multi-faceted, complex issue. The Fit Together Initiative, funded by the NC Health and Wellness Trust Fund Commission, is a statewide effort in North Carolina to address childhood overweight through community-based programs.

With an escalating number of programs developing to address childhood overweight and obesity, identifying successful and unsuccessful programs and strategies is paramount. However, evaluating disparate programs presents many challenges. East Carolina University, Department of Family Medicine and Duke University Medical Center, Department of Community and Family Medicine are currently collecting process and outcomes data from 21 funded community-based programs in North Carolina.

Two primary tools are used for the evaluation of the Fit Together Initiative. One is a health behavior survey that contains questions regarding physical activity and eating behaviors, such as television time and consumption of fast food and sugar-sweetened beverages. The second evaluation tool is an ACCESS-based repository for all of the cohort data. This also serves as a centralized database for all of the funded programs' process data and documentation of environmental and policy changes. This ACCESS based system, "Progress Check", was initially developed by the Kansas Workgroup on Health Promotion and Community Development and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Progress Check” was modified by several branches within the North Carolina Division of Public Health and has since been modified for the Fit Together Initiative.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to

• Discuss the importance of evaluation as related to obesity programs.
• Identify potential barriers to evaluating the effectiveness of disparate obesity programs.
• Describe the process for developing/modifying evaluation instruments for obesity initiatives.
• Recognize the importance of building upon what partners and collaborators have already established with respect to evaluation instruments and tools.

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