Modules

CCS students are enrolling in a new course on childhood obesity and nutrition in the Hispanic immigrant population. The course is divided into four modules.

Module 1

The objective is to provide an overview of childhood obesity in the United States, including variations by ethnic groups and how changes in immigration influences the rates and the need to focus on Hispanic communities to reduce childhood obesity.

• Exploration of the physiological and biological determinants of childhood and adolescence obesity at an individual level, focusing on nutrition.
• Identification of the various factors influencing childhood obesity, highlighting one factor that is rarely reviewed-public and health policy.
• Nutrition policy examination- identifying what types of policy are in place and how and if these policies are culturally-sensitive for Hispanic communities, particularly for immigrant health.
• Influence of food-assistance interventions-impacts to the Hispanic community

Module 2

An exploration of the role of social, built, and service environments as determinants to childhood obesity. 

• Impacts of city living on health, focusing on community environmental models that explain how aggregate conditions in communities influence the health of populations.
• Identify community environmental conditions of “poor” neighborhoods and how these conditions make it more difficult for children and youth to make healthy eating and physical activity choices with emphasis on Latinos populations.
• Discussion of public policies at the city level

Module 3

Review a continuum of effective intervention strategies, ranging from physical activity and nutrition targeting individuals and families at the home and school to those concerned with the role of grassroots organizations, universities, health foundations, and federal initiatives in the development and implementation of culturally and neighborhood appropriate policy campaigns. 

• Review of community change models intended to alter environmental policies or practices that influence the occurrence or severity of health problems.
• Analyze case studies using different community change models to alter food and built environmental policies or practices that influence childhood obesity, focusing on lower-income and Latino populations. 
• Introduction of program evaluation concepts, using the on-going evaluation of the Communities Creating Healthy Environments (CCHE), an initiative to reduce childhood obesity in the United States

Module 4

A series of guest lectures (video recorded) provided by Latino Health Access, a local, well-recognized community based organization for this portion of the module. The goal is to strengthen students’ health policy foundation and competencies and students will be encouraged to enroll in elective policy courses.