Role of public-private partnerships in the development and implementation of state obesity prevention and control programs

State health departments funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) State-based Nutrition and Physical Activity Program to Prevent Obesity and Other Chronic Diseases (NPAO) collaborate with multiple partners to develop and implement comprehensive obesity prevention and control programs. Evaluation of the first five years of the NPAO program (2003-2008) applied quantitative and qualitative methods to assess states' progress on key NPAO program requirements, including developing statewide partnerships and coordinating with partners to support obesity prevention and control efforts.

This presentation describes the partnerships states developed and the contributions of principal partners, including participation in strategic planning processes and the provision of staffing support. It includes analysis of associations between an indicator of the strength of partnership involvement and other program accomplishments.

Findings from case studies and descriptive statistical analyses suggest partnerships' centrality to successful NPAO state program development and implementation. For example, among the 28 funded states, states above the median in degree of partnership involvement leveraged on average 3 times as much funding support for their NPAO program and passed about 3.5 times more obesity-related policies. States with greater partnership involvement were also significantly more likely to implement obesity interventions in multiple settings.

This analysis also yielded lessons learned for establishing and maintaining strong partnerships. Discussion of these results could inform the development of obesity prevention programs and other community-based health promotion efforts. Evaluation efforts in comparable programs with similar requirements for partnership development and coordination of resources may also benefit from these findings.