The Childhood Obesity Prevention Mission Project identified several projects addressing various domains within the broad early childhood systems-change framework: public health and health care, early learning and care, and food and nutrition systems. While projects were undertaken in specific geographic settings, efforts were also undertaken to ensure that effective systems changes were disseminated to national audiences.
Five projects were launched and concluded:
Supporting development, implementation, and evaluation of model Body Mass Index (BMI) Surveillance System.
Altarum staff worked with partners in Michigan to add body mass index (BMI) surveillance capacity to the Michigan Care Improvement Registry (MCIR), an existing surveillance system that currently contains health records on more than 4.7 million Michigan children. The addition of BMI surveillance to the MCIR is a systems-level change that was intended to arm public health agencies with the capacity to monitor childhood obesity trends in Michigan communities and evaluate the effects of public health interventions.
The effort sought to enhance the likelihood that Michigan primary care providers will comply with current national recommendations to screen all children for obesity for the purposes of early identification, prevention and treatment. Altarum staff conducted a needs assessment with primary care providers to inform this process, and assisted the Michigan Department of Community Health in the design and implementation of adding BMI to MCIR.
Altarum also provided technical assistance to the San Diego County Health Department on optimizing use of BMI surveillance capacity in their own immunization registry.
Enhancing the Role of Child Care Settings in Obesity Prevention - Washington, D.C.
Altarum partnered with D.C. Hunger Solutions to conduct an environmental scan of 26 child development centers to assess their nutrition and physical activity practices and priorities and identify their needs for training and other support. The environmental scan findings supported enhanced nutrition and physical activity guidelines for child development centers in the District of Columbia. D.C. Hunger Solution used the environmental scan report to educate policy makers and advocate for an Early Childhood Wellness Policy. To assist the District and other communities across the country in early childhood obesity prevention, Altarum will also produce a physical activity lesson plan guide for child care providers to promote physical activity for children child care facilities.
Enhancing the Role of Child Care Settings in Obesity Prevention - Delaware.
Altarum partnered with Nemours Health and Prevention Services, the State Office of Child Care Licensing, and the Delaware Child and Adult Care Food Program to conduct a needs assessment of child care providers and parents of preschool children. The assessment helped partners in Delaware to learn more about care providers’ current practices, and their perceptions and needs associated with meeting new healthy eating and physical activity regulations and standards. This work is expected to inform training and implementation plans that address the needs of child care providers in implementing the new regulations and standards.
Evaluation of Women, Infants and Children (WIC) vendor changes in response to the new WIC food package.
Altarum worked with several states to evaluate the impact of the new WIC program food package on small stores. The WIC food package was recently revised to include new provisions for healthy foods including fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Small stores commonly located in urban areas and rural communities can be a primary source of food for WIC participants, yet they may face a variety of challenges in implementing the new food package due to limited inventory and availability of healthy foods. Altarum evaluated the impact of this systems-level change on small stores and produced a report that includes case studies from stores in several states and recommendations for future systems-changes to encourage the participation of small food retailers in the WIC program.
Evaluation of the Participant-Centered Education (PCE) Model for nutrition services.
Altarum also evaluated another systems-level change to the WIC Program, the implementation of the Participant-Centered Education model. This model is being implemented nationally in WIC clinics to improve the nutrition services provided to WIC participants. Its implementation represents a shift in the WIC program from a focus on numbers of individuals served to one that focuses on health outcomes. Altarum partnered with several WIC clinics to monitor and evaluate the implementation of this model.