Initiative for a Healthy Weight

Mission

The Initiative for a Healthy Weight (IHW) is a leader in preventing and controlling obesity. The program changes social, political, and physical environments to make the healthy choice the easy choice for all Rhode Islanders. IHW leads the state in developing an annual policy agenda and building a strong network of advocates; improving community walk-ability; safety; access to recreation; access to healthy foods; ensuring that restaurants provide calorie information at the point of purchase; and strengthening nutrition guidelines for childcare providers. The program works to increase participation in best practice nutrition and physical activity programs, ensuring obesity prevention integration into routine primary care, and improving wellness policies and programming.

2010 Accomplishments and Milestones

• RI ranked 4th lowest in the prevalence of obesity among adults in the US.
• Developed the Healthy Communities Plan to guide municipal planners in incorporating policies that support physical activity into local comprehensive plans.
• Assisted the Olneyville neighborhood of Providence with gathering data from residents and stakeholders about neighborhood perceptions around healthy living.
• Developed a state childcare nutrition and physical activity action plan with stakeholders.
• Trained 60 RI organizations on the We Can! childhood obesity prevention curriculum.
• Trained 60 RI organizations on the We Can! childhood obesity prevention curriculum.
• Co-led, with the YMCA of Greater Providence, the development of the Health Promotion Policy Council's statewide obesity prevention policy agenda.

Since 2000, preventing obesity and related chronic diseases has been a priority for the Rhode Island Department of Health. Rhode Island was one of the first six states to receive funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop a coordinated obesity prevention infrastructure. The Department of Health started the Initiative for a Healthy Weight (IHW) program to lead the state in making it easier for Rhode Islanders to eat well and Move More.

What We Do

Build nutrition and physical activity “infrastructure” to better address obesity prevention in Rhode Island

By building infrastructure, our staff and our partners’ expertise and resources is used to implement statewide nutrition and physical activity policies and interventions. We do this by providing training to our partners and sharing best practices, improving communication and building partnerships around obesity prevention, and developing action plans with our partners to address obesity in a coordinated way. 

Implement policy, systems, and environmental changes that make eating well and being active easier for all Rhode Islanders

We believe, and research shows, that behavior change is more likely to take place and continue when the environment makes it easier for people to make the healthy choice.  We develop and manage specific, evidence-based programs and initiatives with the goals of increasing physical activity and improving nutrition by changing the policies, systems, or environments that prevent people from making better choices.

Analyze and track obesity-related data

We track and share obesity, physical activity, and nutrition trends in the state and make recommendations for programs and policies that will improve these trends. We produce reports on the state of obesity and related risk factors, as well as reports on obesity prevention efforts in Rhode Island.

Goals

• Position the Department of Health and key partners in a leadership role for statewide obesity prevention efforts.
• Convene and lead a planning process to revise the State Plan and prioritize activities annually.
• Increase the number, reach, and quality of policies and standards that support healthy eating and active living.
• Increase access to and use of environments that support healthy eating and active living.
• Increase the number, reach, and quality of social and behavioral approaches that compliment policy and environmental strategies to promote healthy eating and active living.
• Enhance surveillance to monitor obesity and key behavioral and environmental risk factors. (report on obesity health risks)
• Evaluate progress towards meeting program and State Plan objectives.
• Share success stories and lessons learned