Planning - Resources to Address Physical Activity and Nutrition in the Community Setting
Preventing overweight and obesity requires addressing a variety of behaviors and in multiple settings. Addressing the community setting can be difficult, but important in terms of creating a supportive environment for people where they live, work, play, worship, and learn. Many studies suggest improved health behaviors are linked to healthy environments, which indicates a promising future for community intervention work.
Where do you start? What resources do you have? What strategies work? How do you evaluate your impact? To assist with these questions, use the resources below to identify what you can do. If you think you're ready to implement one or more physical activity or nutrition interventions, start by answering the questions below. Taking the time to plan well on the front end will save you time in the long run.
- Have you done a self assessment of your coalition or group capacity?
- Have you identified and recruited key members (asset mapping) (PDF, 76 KB) and do you have sufficient capacity and resources to implement an intervention?
- Do you have a strategic plan?
- Have you done your formative assessment to better understand your community?
- If you can answer "yes" to all of the above, proceed to the next step: Implementation, which will include creating an intervention action plan.
Coalition or Group Capacity Building Resources - Select this option if you are interested in coalition or group capacity building resources such as assessment of coalition strength, training, asset mapping and other related information to address obesity.
Strategic and Intervention Planning Resources - Select this option if you are interested in resources to assist with development of a long-term strategic plan or specific intervention action plans to address obesity.
Intervention Resources - Once you've developed your plan, select a setting from the left margin to to access setting-specific resources. Select this option if you are interested in resources to implement an obesity prevention intervention with strategies specific to a variety of community settings,
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Active Community Environments (Safe Routes to School, Smart Growth, etc.)
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Breastfeeding
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Early Care and Education (Early Childhood)
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Food System (Access to Fruits and Vegetables, Gardening, Grocery Stores, Restaurants, etc.)
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Healthcare
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Schools
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Worksites
For a high level overview of proven strategies, see the summary table of strategies recommended by national expert organizations: Nutrition and Physical Activity Key Strategies (PDF, 261 KB)