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Healthy Communities Study: How Communities Shape Children’s Health (HCS)

BAA NHLBI-HC-10-15
Project Period: 8/1/2010 - 7/31/2015
Contact: Dr. Sonia Arteaga

Community programs and policies targeting childhood obesity are being implemented across the country, but their approaches have not been systematically studied. The Healthy Communities Study (HCS) will address the need for a cross-cutting national study of community programs and policies and their relationship to childhood obesity.

The HCS is a five-year observational study of communities that aims to (1) determine the associations between community programs/policies and Body Mass Index (BMI), diet, and physical activity in children; and (2) identify the community, family, and child factors that modify or mediate the associations between community programs/policies and BMI, diet, and physical activity in children. A total of 279 communities and over 23,000 children, 3-15 years, and their parents will be interviewed in the HCS. The study examines quantitative and qualitative information obtained from community-based initiatives, community characteristics (e.g., school environment), and from child and parent assessments and measurements of children’s physical activity levels, dietary practices of children, and children’s and parent’s BMI.

The study is funded by several National Institutes of Health (NIH) institutes and centers including the NHLBI, the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child and Health and Human Development, and the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences.




Last Updated May 2011




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