Delivering a behavior-change weight management program to teachers and state employees in North Carolina.

PURPOSE: To ascertain the effectiveness of a behavior-change weight management program offered to teachers and state employees in North Carolina (NC). DESIGN: Fifteen-week weight management program with premeasures and postmeasures. SETTING: State agencies and public K-12 schools in five NC counties. SUBJECTS: A total of 2574 NC state employees enrolled in 141 classes. INTERVENTION: Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less (ESMMWL) is a 15-week weight management program delivered by trained instructors. Lessons inform, empower, and motivate participants to live mindfully as they make choices about eating and physical activity. MEASURES: Height, weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, blood pressure, confidence in ability to eat healthy and be physically active, changes in eating, and physical activity behaviors. ANALYSIS: Descriptive statistics, t-tests, χ(2) tests, and analyses of variance. RESULTS: Data are reported for 1341 participants in ESMMWL who completed the program, submitted an evaluation, and had not participated in the program in the past; 89% were female and mean age was 48.8 years. Average BMI and waist circumference decreased significantly. Confidence in eating healthfully and being physically active increased significantly. The percentage of participants with a BMI < 30 kg/m(2) increased from 40% to 45% and those with a normal blood pressure increased from 23% to 32.5%. Participants reported being more mindful of what and how much they ate (92%), being more mindful of how much daily physical activity they got (88%), and eating fewer calories (87.3%). CONCLUSION: This project demonstrated the feasibility of implementing a behavior change-based weight management program at the worksite to achieve positive outcomes related to weight, blood pressure, healthy eating, and physical activity behaviors. Programs such as this have the potential to provide health care cost savings.

The North Carolina Division of Public Health's vision for healthy and sustainable communities.

The North Carolina Division of Public Health is working to improve access to physical activity through changes in the built environment by participating in the Healthy Environments Collaborative and by leading the state's Communities Putting Prevention to Work project and the Shape Your World movement.

The role of state health departments in supporting community-based obesity prevention.

BACKGROUND: Recent national attention to obesity prevention has highlighted the importance of community-based initiatives. State health departments are in a unique position to offer resources and support for local obesity prevention efforts. COMMUNITY CONTEXT: In North Carolina, one-third of children are overweight or obese. North Carolina's Division of Public Health supports community-based obesity prevention by awarding annual grants to local health departments, providing ongoing training and technical assistance, and engaging state-level partners and resources to support local efforts. METHODS: The North Carolina Division of Public Health administered grants to 5 counties to implement the Childhood Obesity Prevention Demonstration Project; counties simultaneously carried out interventions in the community, health care organizations, worksites, schools, child care centers, and faith communities. OUTCOME: The North Carolina Division of Public Health worked with 5 local health departments to implement community-wide policy and environmental changes that support healthful eating and physical activity. The state health department supported this effort by working with state partners to provide technical assistance, additional funding, and evaluation. INTERPRETATION: State health departments are well positioned to coordinate technical assistance and leverage additional support to increase the strength of community-based obesity prevention efforts.

The Move More Scholars Institute: a state model of the physical activity and public health practitioners course.

Physical activity has been identified as a public health priority. In response, training and professional development opportunities have been created to increase the capacity of public health practitioners to address this issue. Currently, training resources are primarily reaching national- and state-level professionals. Local-level physical activity and public health practitioners can also benefit from these resources. The Move More Scholars Institute, a 4-day training course for community-based physical activity practitioners in North Carolina, was developed for local practitioners. This article will describe the planning of, implementation of, and initial response to the Move More Scholars Institute.