A School Wellness Partnership to Address Childhood Obesity

Background: Childhood obesity is a complex public health issue that requires community and environmental factors be addressed. Efforts to combat childhood obesity must be multifaceted and include community-based partnerships.

Objectives: The objective of this paper is to describe a partnership between a county health department and a local school district to address childhood obesity.

Methods: As part of a formal School Wellness Partnership, a nutrition and physical activity program was designed to meet the needs of a school community. The program included parent and teacher education, school-wide messaging and take-home activities.

Lessons Learned: The partnership generated positive program outcomes, including increased teacher knowledge and confidence and parental knowledge regarding healthy childhood behaviors. Lessons learned included the importance of resource sharing and building a stronger program with mutual partner benefits.

Conclusions: Community partnerships can lead to expanding health outreach and building community capacity to promote health through collaborative program development efforts.