Engaging diverse community partners to fight childhood obesity: Policy and practice successes of a city-wide consortium (CLOCC)

INTRODUCTION The Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children (CLOCC) engages over 3,000 partners to address the obesity epidemic in Chicago. CLOCC brings health professionals, educators, community and faith leaders, government officials, service providers, policy makers, and corporate partners together, to collaborate on child obesity prevention activities, policy development and environmental level changes that make healthy eating and physical activity more accessible. In 2010, an evaluation of CLOCC's progress towards these goals was conducted.

METHODS An online survey (n=363), in-depth interviews (n=35), and focus group was conducted to gather partner perspectives on CLOCC's effectiveness in building networks and strengthening communications among partner organizations; their influence on the quality of child obesity programs; and efforts to support policy and environmental-level change for healthy lifestyles.

FINDINGS Consortium partners (71%) reported that their work was enhanced through CLOCC's collaborative efforts and that their capacity to address child obesity was strengthened (67%). CLOCC has influenced obesity prevention-related policies, through the establishment of a taskforce that includes 14 local government departments to support citywide health promotion policies and resolutions, including healthy park vending policies and strengthened nutrition requirements in childcare settings.

DISCUSSION CLOCC is an innovative city-wide model that has contributed to numerous accomplishments in Chicago, which includes a heightened awareness of obesity prevention, framing an environmental and policy approach to prevention, and creating networks among a broad range of partners. CLOCC's lessons learned can inform collaboratives in other cities, ways to maximize human, financial, and political resources to address obesity prevention in their communities.