The San Diego County Childhood Obesity Initiative (Initiative) is a public/private partnership whose mission is to reduce and prevent childhood obesity in San Diego County by creating healthy environments for all children and families through advocacy, education, policy development, and environmental change. To fulfill its mission, the Initiative creates, supports, and mobilizes partners from multiple domains (i.e., sectors); provides leadership and vision; and coordinates county-wide efforts in the prevention and reduction of childhood obesity.
The Initiative was formed to assure effective implementation of the strategies outlined in the Call to Action: San Diego County Childhood Obesity Action Plan, a comprehensive plan for ending childhood obesity in San Diego County through policy and environmental changes in the seven most influential domains in creating healthy environments:
The Initiative has established active workgroups in each domain to develop, leverage, and replicate best practices and resources throughout San Diego County and shape a healthy future. |
In 2002, County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) staff and other community health professionals created the Coalition on Children and Weight San Diego (Coalition), a grassroots organization dedicated to preventing childhood obesity. That same year, County Supervisor Ron Roberts identified childhood obesity as a priority issue and allocated funds to support the Coalition and other childhood obesity prevention efforts. Since 2002, the Coalition has engaged hundreds of individuals from multiple sectors to promote healthful eating and physical activity. It established active school, childcare, education and outreach workgroups; hosted summits and workshops; and developed resources to support childhood obesity prevention efforts in the community. This innovative work laid a strong foundation for further advancements in childhood obesity prevention including the development of the Action Plan and Initiative. In February 2009, the Coalition dissolved to allow for more effective leveraging of limited community resources through the existing structure of the Initiative. The Initiative continues to build on the Coalition’s rich legacy of success.