Healthy Behaviors and Choices (e.g. Fitness, Tobacco, Opioids, Nutrition)
Sharing Session - 30 Minutes
Catherine Giles, MPH
Project Manager
Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health
Jennifer Reiner, MPH
Research Assistant
Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health
Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that more adults continue to have obesity. Additionally, research from the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health predicts more than half of today’s children will have obesity when they are adults if we do nothing to stop the rise of this epidemic (Ward et al., NEJM, 2017). The Childhood Obesity Intervention Cost-Effectiveness Study (CHOICES) Project at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health is working to combat the obesity epidemic by identifying strategies and has been shown to be effective in helping people eat healthier, move more, and reduce excess weight. CHOICES has compiled a menu of these strategies that are feasible and scalable at the state or local level in the United States into an interactive online tool called the Childhood Obesity National Action Kit.
The CHOICES National Action Kit presents projected national results for population reach, as well as impact on health and costs for 14 strategies across multiple settings. These results can help inform decision-making for public health agencies and their partners to guide resource investment in those strategies that have evidence for health impact and cost-effectiveness. No single strategy will reverse the epidemic and the implementation of preventive strategies is imperative. Implementing proven, effective strategies such as those presented in the CHOICES Childhood Obesity National Action Kit is a critical way to ensure children are in environments from the very start that offer healthy foods and beverages and opportunities for physical activity.