Government Domain of the San Diego County Childhood Obesity Initiative: Developing new partnerships to improve our built environment and food access through policy change

This session will present the work of the Government Domain of the San Diego County Childhood Obesity Initiative (Initiative), a unique public/private partnership that has engaged community partners in multiple sectors to work together to impact childhood obesity. City and county government is one of seven domains identified by the Initiative to have the most influence on developing environments that support healthy choices and behavior change. With support from the County of San Diego Board of Supervisors and the County Health and Human Services Agency, representatives from multiple governmental agencies have voluntarily come together to find new ways to implement strategies to prevent childhood obesity and improve our built environment and food access through policy change.

In a series of workshops, the Government Domain has brought together public health and land use/transportation planning professionals in a groundbreaking collaboration designed to incorporate public health issues into community design. This work has resulted in inclusion of public health language in the City of San Diego's general plan and the County's regional transportation plan, and development of two new public health related classes at the NewSchool of Architecture and Design. The Board of Supervisors has adopted policies related to vending machines and park development. Collaborations with other sectors include training youth to conduct community assessments and advocate for environmental change; facilitating acceptance of food stamps at neighborhood farmers' markets; and a partnership between the County Department of Parks & Recreation and healthcare providers to use special prescription pads to prescribe physical activity/wellness programs.