A statewide strategy to battle child obesity in Delaware

Abstract

In 2006, approximately 37 percent of Delaware's children were overweight or obese. To combat Delaware's childhood obesity epidemic, Nemours, a leading child health care provider, launched a statewide program to improve child health. The "social-ecological" strategy reaches beyond clinical encounters to promote better health and behavior at multiple levels. Early results show that the initiative halted the increase in the prevalence of overweight and obese children, since no statistically significant change occurred during the two-year span between administrations of the Delaware Survey on Children's Health. The initiative also spurred increased knowledge of healthy eating and awareness of the need for increased physical activity in school, child care, and primary care settings.