The Fit Together Playbook: a curriculum that fosters community partnerships to fight child obesity
Unmet Need
Childhood obesity affects 1 in 5 children resulting in more than 14.7 million obese children ages 2-19 years old in the United States. Many factors can contribute and cause obesity including diet, lack of exercise, genetics, medications, and psychological and socioeconomic factors. If reducing childhood obesity is not prioritized, individuals may develop life-long and chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol and blood pressure, breathing issues, and joint pain. Many pediatricians recommend increased physical activity and a healthier diet to reduce weight, but not all children have access to programs that enable these healthy habits. Therefore, there is a need for easily accessible community programs that support healthy lifestyles to prevent long term weigh issues and chronic conditions associated with childhood obesity.
Technology
Duke inventors have developed an online tool that facilitates partnerships between local parks and recreation centers and pediatric primary care practices to provide a supportive and trustworthy environment for children to practice healthy habits close to home. This 6–12-month curriculum is termed the Fit Together Playbook and aims to improve weight status, quality of life, and self-confidence in overweight children 5-12 years old. Though the project targets overweight children, all are welcome to participate to foster healthy habits throughout the entire community. This is intended to be utilized by parks and recreational organizations and health centers to implement the program in their community. Specifically, the Fit Together Playbook includes tools to build partnerships between the organizations, complete necessary agreements, develop a referral system, hire staff, and sustain the program long term. The curriculum was started by Duke University and Durham Parks and Recreation and is currently being used throughout Wake County, NC through partnerships between WakeMed and eight community centers.
Advantages
- Program that facilitates partnerships between community organizations
- Easily accessible program close to the child’s home