SCOPE program developed to engage communities in preventing childhood obesity

This news release is available in French.

A multidisciplinary group of researchers from British Columbia has developed a participatory action research program to help address healthy body weight in children.

The SCOPE (Sustainable Childhood Obesity Prevention through Community Engagement) program has a simple message and was developed to engage communities to take action to prevent childhood obesity. The first phase of the SCOPE program was funded by Child Health BC, an initiative of BC Children's Hospital, and was carried out in communities in British Columbia. The results of this study were recently published in the journal Biochemistry and Cell Biology.

The SCOPE program promotes 'Live 5-2-1-0', which encourages children to enjoy five or more fruits per day; to power down -- no more than two hours of screen time per day; to play actively for at least 1 hour per day; and to choose healthy foods -- zero sugar-sweetened beverages.

'In order to truly address the complex issue of childhood obesity, researchers need to work in partnership with community stakeholders who influence the environments in which children live and play. This partnership approach is critical to achieving sustainable change across multiple sectors of a community so that the healthy choice is the easy choice for children,' says Dr. Shazhan Amed, lead author on the study. 'It is critical that funding agencies not only recognize the need for projects like SCOPE, but also appreciate the time, effort, resources and funding that are required to generate a community-wide coordinated effort to create healthier environments for children. There is not one solution, nor any one individual, organization, or sector that is solely responsible.'

Insufficient financial capacity and resources were identified as significant barriers to pulling a large community together. SCOPE helped the communities work smarter not harder through partnership, sharing of resources, and minimizing duplication of efforts.

The SCOPE program will continue to adopt, adapt, and evaluate the usefulness of SCOPE in other communities and to gather information within existing communities about impact and engagement across a broader variety of organizational capacities, seasons, and program timelines.

At the time of the study, the SCOPE program was funded by Child Health BC, which is supported by donors to BC Children's Hospital Foundation.

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The article 'Sustainable Childhood Obesity Prevention through Community Engagement (SCOPE) program: evaluation of the implementation phase' by McIntosh et al. was published in the journal Biochemistry and Cell Biology.

Please cite Biochemistry and Cell Biology as the source of this story and include hyperlink to research study: dx.doi.org/10.1139/bcb-2014-0127.

Contact:

Rebecca Ross
rebecca.ross@cdnsciencepub.com
Canadian Science Publishing

Jennifer Kohm
jkohm@cfri.ca
Child & Family Research Institute

Reference: Sustainable Childhood Obesity Prevention Through Community Engagement (SCOPE) Program: evaluation of the implementation phase by Bonnie McIntosh, Amelia Daly, Louise C. Mâsse, Jean-Paul Collet, Joan Wharf Higgins, Patti-Jean Naylor, and Shazhan Amed, Biochemistry and Cell Biology, 2015, 10.1139/bcb-2014-0127.

About the journal

Published since 1929, Biochemistry and Cell Biology explores every aspect of general biochemistry and includes up-to-date coverage of experimental research into cellular and molecular biology, as well as review articles on topics of current interest and notes contributed by recognized international experts. Special issues each year are dedicated to expanding new areas of research in biochemistry and cell biology.

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