Relationship centered research: "FitFuture", a participatory intervention to prevent obesity in minority families

There is no single solution to the increase of childhood obesity because the causes are multiple and complex. In light of this, approaches to reducing obesity and overweight should include families, schools, health professionals, researchers, the food industry, and the media, and must be amenable to different ethnic groups, gender, and lifestyle preferences. Interventions that involve multidisciplinary teams working with multicultural communities are multi-dimensional and present multiple challenges and opportunities. This project demonstrates the multiple aspects of community partnerships in participatory research. "FitFuture" aims to motivate children and their families to understand the importance of achieving an appropriate weight, decreasing obesity and making a commitment to a healthier lifestyle, in a community that has been identified to be at the greatest risk for obesity during childhood. This 3 year intervention is a response to this challenge by enhancing community capacity through a participatory approach that considers the complexity of the etiology of obesity. The target population is third grade students and their families at an elementary school in Texas, which is comprised of primarily of African American and Hispanic students. The commitment to holistic health extends care laterally to the patient's family and community, and longitudinally to lifespan health promotion. Early on, we were impressed by the range and quantity of new relationships that were required just to develop the research proposal. We will briefly describe the project and we will illustrate and explain the matrix of complex institutional, research, academic, professional, community, and personal relationships that evolved.