Community-Based Interventions to Address Obesity in the Context of Health Equity

Obesity is a significant public health challenge that has disparities along racial and ethnic lines. Differences in the prevalence of obesity are also observed on the basis of socioeconomic status and geography, although these effects are complex and differ by race and ethnicity. Addressing obesity must take a multifactorial approach and effectively target disproportionately affected populations. This chapter focuses on the role of community resources to build capacity by examining community-based interventions to address obesity in the context of health equity. The two most established approaches to community-based obesity prevention are diet and physical activity. In each of these categories, we describe how interventions have been effective across target populations by race/ethnicity, income, and rural vs. urban. A successful community-based intervention must build on existing community capacity to improve the efficiency and integration of existing social and economic resources. It must support the goal of nutrition assistance and economic development to improve the health of the community and build strategic partnerships to educate the community to develop real, attainable skills to promote sustained healthy eating and physical activity.