Obesity Prevention

Background and Objectives

For the past 15 years there has been an annual increase in the average Body Mass Index of the citizens of North Carolina. Forty-five percent of North Carolina children are overweight or at risk for overweight. These numbers can be attributed to a multitude of causes including lack of access to nutritious foods, sedentary lifestyle factors, and other environmental causes. All of these factors influence individual choices for diet and exercise.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity is one of the top causes of preventable diseases, second only to tobacco. New Hanover and Brunswick Counties mirror North Carolina in staggering obesity statistics and related chronic diseases including diabetes, heart disease and other life threatening illnesses.

In early 2005, Wilmington Health Access for Teens' s (WHAT) Executive Director convened a group of health care organization representatives at the request of the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust Health Care Division Director and the Cape Fear Memorial Foundation Executive Director. The purpose was to develop a community collaboration to address the serious issue of obesity in Brunswick and New Hanover County. Community Groups have consolidated efforts as a committee of Cape Fear Healthy Carolinians to establish an effective and efficient inclusive structure to assess community issues and solutions, plan, acquire resources for, and implement obesity prevention strategies.

Cape Fear Healthy Carolinians' Obesity Prevention Committee is developing and implementing a variety of strategies to decrease overweight and obesity in both adults and children. Our programs and initiatives are aimed at children in schools and after school settings, adults in the workplace and families in neighborhoods, churches and other public places.

Through a fast-moving committee process, the following objectives were identified for the Obesity Prevention Committee:

To reduce the percentage of children (ages 2-18) and adolescents who are overweight or obese by 10% by the year 2010.
Reduce the percentage of adults (ages 19-64) who are overweight or obese by 10% by the year 2010.
Plan and implement a comprehensive marketing promotional campaign to change the behavior of adults, families and children in the Cape Fear Region regarding the issue of obesity
Plan and implement a community initiative, neighborhood by neighborhood, corporation by corporation and school by school to offer a "wellness template" for each group. The template will offer a menu of best practices in wellness programs and activities for each audience depending on their needs and interests, such as walking programs and incentives (scales or pedometers, for example), weight loss programs and incentives, lunch n' learns, nutrition advice, etc.
Acquire volunteer and financial resources and support to gradually support a comprehensive community health initiative.