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Résumé (français)

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Résumé (anglais)

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to help understand how obesity, physical activity and healthy eating are related to community environments, and how these environments can be changed to prevent/reduce obesity and chronic diseases. This is a 3-years (2008-2011) project funded by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Institute for Health Research. Objective: The objective is to investigate the opportunities and barriers in the built environment to inform the development and implementation of obesity reduction and prevention interventions (pilot projects) in 4 Alberta communities. A secondary objective is to understand differences in perceived and objective interpretations of community access to physical activity and healthy eating options. Communities: The Obesity Prevention and the Built Environment project will build on the work of the Healthy Alberta Communities (HAC) project, a community capacity building project for chronic disease prevention. HAC is currently underway in four distinct communities in Alberta, each representing a mix of special issues and vulnerable populations: Norwood/ North Central Edmonton; Medicine Hat and area; St Paul and area; and Bonnyville and area. Approach: We will take a participatory research approach, working with general community members and their representatives to identify strengths and barriers in their community’s built environment and effect sustainable change with respect to promoting physical activity and healthy eating. The pilot projects will be real-world interventions aimed at improving the health of the community overall, employing the theory that changes in the community environment will result in changes in individual and community behaviour. Methods: 1. On-going participation of community partners (local advisory group) to guide the project to ensure relevance for each community; 2. Identifying what physical activity and healthy eating resources are available in the community through direct observation; 3. Analysis of existing 3rd party health-related data; 4. Exploring each community’s health behaviours relative to opportunities and barriers for healthy choices in the built environment; and 5. Implementing and evaluating community pilot projects to better understand if and how these projects could lead to lasting action to improve the health of the community.