Over half of Alabama counties have an adult obesity rate greater than 40%. Populations espousing specific sociodemographic characteristics that have been shown to contribute disproportionately to obesity, including poverty, high percentage of racial minority populations, and a rural environment, are prominent in Alabama’s eligible 36 high-obesity counties. Obesogenic environmental factors that residents in target counties face include limited healthy, affordable food choices and physical activity opportunities.
Alabama Cooperative Extension System’s (ACES) Live Well Alabama Thriving Communities (LWATC) will continue to build upon our proven track-record of strong community partnerships and successful community initiatives. Specifically, we will expand implementation and evaluation of evidence-based strategies in 14 of the 36 eligible high-obesity counties to (a) increase access to healthier foods, (b) increase access to physical activity, (c) improve nutrition, physical activity, and breastfeeding standards in early care and education (ECE) programs, and (d) expand Farm to ECE with the long-term goal of reducing the burden of obesity. LWATC will seek to influence multiple levels of the Social Ecological Model using a community participatory approach.
LWATC’s five-year initiative will seek to achieve multiple nutrition, physical activity, and early care and education evidence-based strategies and activities at the local level:
• Nutrition strategies will focus on collaborating with partners to implement local level policies and activities that promote food service and nutrition guidelines and healthy food procurement where food is available, and expand existing fruit and vegetable voucher incentive and produce prescription programs. Outcomes associated with these strategies will include increasing the number of food retailers, distributors, producers, and healthcare systems engaged and supported; number of revisions or adoptions of healthy food service or nutrition guidelines; amount of healthy food procured by community organizations; and number of organizations participating in fruit and vegetable voucher incentive programs.
• Physical activity strategies will focus on collaborating with partners to implement local level policies and activities to connect activity-friendly routes to everyday destinations and increase physical activity through community design. Outcomes associated with these strategies will include increasing the number of active transportation partners engaged and supported; number of community active transportation action plans; number of Safe Routes to School plans, community greenway plans, or other plans for linear paths that increase safety of active transportation; and improvements to community design, including everyday destinations, that increase safety of active transportation.
• ECE strategies will focus on collaborating with partners to implement local level policies and activities that improve nutrition, physical activity, and breastfeeding standards and advance Farm to ECE. Outcomes associated with these strategies will include increasing the number of ECE partners, programs, and providers engaged and supported; number of ECE learning collaboratives with coordinated approaches to supporting ECE partners, programs, and providers; and number of ECE providers participating in Farm to ECE activities.
LWATC will capitalize on the organizational structure of ACES, including highly qualified subject matter experts and well-connected county professionals, to positively influence this complex, community health issue. In partnership with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and ACES, LWATC will improve nutrition by increasing access to healthy, nutritious food, increase physical activity by connecting everyday destinations with activity-friendly routes, and improve ECE programs through activities that contribute to better socioeconomic outcomes for children.