On August 3, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a national report stating that the prevalence of obesity among adults continues to increase. Although the CDC report shows no change in Wisconsin, our state's obesity rate of 26% badly misses the Healthy People 2010 goal of 15%. In addition, another recent study by the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) shows Wisconsin having the country's highest rate of obesity for African American adults (44%). The CDC has called for a comprehensive, community approach to changing environment and policy related to nutrition and physical activity while also promoting individual behavior change. The Center for Urban Population Health is partnering with several community and academic groups to advance the goal of reducing obesity and increasing healthy food consumption in Milwaukee. Specifically, Center staff are developing community informed, evidence-based nutrition education programs for implementation at Mobile Markets sites across the city. The program was noted as an innovative approach in a recent Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article highlighting promising practices.
The Mobile Markets program is an innovative approach developed by SHARE Wisconsin. The Markets are hosted by community-based organizations and bring healthy, high quality, and affordable foods to Milwaukee neighborhoods. Most sites are in low-income neighborhoods and many are open to the general public.
The current project, funded by an Ira and Ineva Reilly Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Endowment grant, will build on the existing Mobile Markets idea to add nutrition education. Headed by Center Scientist Dr. Paul Hunter, the project relies on both a Technical Advisory Board and a Community Advisory Board. The Technical Advisory Board is tasked with reviewing and identifying promising interventions from the published literature. They will be working in partnership with the Community Advisory Board to ensure a community perspective underlies any and all education efforts brought to Mobile Market sites. The project team hopes that by working together, the advisory boards will create nutrition education that is engaging, useful, and capable of creating change in buying and eating habits. This combination of nutrition education with an environment offering easier neighborhood access to healthy foods responds to many of the components recommended by the CDC. The project began in July, and is funded through June 2012. Project partners include SHARE Wisconsin, the City of Milwaukee Health Department, UW-Extension Nutrition Education Program, UW-Milwaukee, and the Medical College of Wisconsin.
