Healthy Families Multidisciplinary Program

SPARK Helps Ignite Healthy Families Program

Teach a Kid to Fish is happy to announce that the Community Health Endowment has recently awarded us $15,000 to initiate the Healthy Families Multidisciplinary Program. The development of the Healthy Families Multidisciplinary Program has been identified as a need and/or gap in our community as an outcome of a 2011 American Academy of Pediatrics CATCH (Community Approach to Child Health) Planning Grant received by Dr. Lester. The goal of the planning grant was to develop an Integrated Community Obesity Intervention Model.

BMI data from LPS K-8th graders shows that 1/3 of Lincoln children are overweight or obese, with a disproportionate effect on children who live in poverty. There is a gap in clinical services for these children. The Healthy Families Program is a collaborative model which will address the gap in obesity intervention services for Lincoln children. The goal is to develop a multidisciplinary intervention program for families which may be referred to by healthcare providers and school nurses.

Findings from the community surveys, focus groups and community meetings with key stakeholders have defined needs and gaps for obesity intervention in Lincoln children. The goals of the implementation phase are to:

1. Increase childhood obesity prevention strategies through development of a community resource directory regarding nutrition, physical activity, and medical home access for children and families and consistent evidence-based obesity prevention messages utilized in schools and healthcare.

2. Increase assessment, screening and referrals for obesity and obesity risk through utilization of Nebraska's Clinical Childhood Obesity Model: Foster Healthy Weight in Youth and through school health screenings.

3. Develop a multidisciplinary intervention program for families which may be referred to by healthcare providers and school nurses.

The Healthy Families Multidisciplinary Program is a collaboration between the YMCA, Teach a Kid to Fish, and Lincoln Public Schools. The program will be 8 to 12 weeks and will include medical experts as well as expertise in nutrition, behavior and exercise.

This implementation project will focus on how to connect services and resources to those children who are disproportionately affected by the obesity epidemic and will include addressing medical home access, increase assessment and prevention efforts among schools and healthcare providers in our community and address the intervention gap. This model may be replicated in other communities.
The Integrated Obesity Intervention Model will provide resources which are currently not available to at-risk children and families including improving access to medical homes, increasing consistent messaging resources, and community resources, as well as provide access to a multidisciplinary intervention model for at-risk children.

Obesity is the result of an imbalance of energy intake and energy expenditure. Genetics, environment, and behavior all contribute to obesity risk. The rapid increase in prevalence of children who are obese and overweight cannot be explained by genetics only. Changes in nutrition and physical activity behaviors and environments that do not support healthy choices have caused this public health problem to move to epidemic proportions, with disparate effect on already vulnerable populations.

Ubiquitous shifts in food practices, changes in our built community, a marked increase in sedentary time opportunities, and an environment in which increasingly more time and money is spent to market unhealthy foods to our children at younger and younger ages are big picture policy root causes of the childhood obesity epidemic. Although diet and exercise are key determinants of weight, environmental factors beyond the control of individuals (including lack of access to full-service grocery stores, high costs of healthy foods, and lack of access to safe places to play and exercise) contribute to increased obesity rates by reducing the likelihood of healthy eating and active living behaviors.
These challenges are organizational and community challenges and are addressed over time with the Teach a Kid to Fish community model, programs, and policy advocacy. But, most importantly, barriers are addressed through partnerships and infrastructure.

Reversing the trend of obesity requires a comprehensive and coordinated approach that uses policy and environmental change to support and promote healthy lifestyles choices.

Lincoln has a high number of refugee families. Many schools have high mobility rates, up to 40% per year. Cultural, language, and transportation barriers exist for children who have higher rates of obesity and are at disproportionate risk for development of comorbidities. There is a lack of community resources and programs for referral, though addressing this issue is one of the goals of the project. There is also the touchy subject of obesity. There is a stigma when discussing and measuring overweight/obesity and difficulty engaging families as advocates.

Barriers specific to this project include:

Cultural and language barriers, parental apathy, transportation, lack of a medical home for follow-up, physician apathy or lack of connection to community resources and programs.

To challenge these barriers, the program will offer incentives, transportation vouchers, and Foster Healthy Weight in Youth free resources and training of physicians. Communication tools will be developed in partnership with LPS, which may be sent out to parents regarding school health screenings, and also to physicians, making them aware of the program.

The Healthy Families Program will provide resources which are currently not available to at-risk children and families.