Acting Locally: Community Involvement and the Health Equity Lens

There is a growing national awareness of the major role social, economic, and environmental factors can play in determining the health of individuals and populations. A better understanding of the more complex underlying factors, in addition to diet and physical activity, that influence the development of obesity will greatly assist in the identification of strategies that can successfully counteract childhood obesity and improve health disparities. Dr. Troutman will discuss the Local Government Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity report recommendations from the perspective of a local health department official seeking to reduce childhood obesity and health disparities in the community he serves. He will discuss how the report recommendations can be viewed and implemented by local government using a health equity lens. He will also examine the role of community assessment and involvement in implementing effective childhood obesity prevention policies. Examples will be shared that demonstrate how viewing childhood obesity with a health equity and community-based perspective can change the perceptions of local government officials and agencies and result in major changes in approach to this problem.