According to the World Health Organization, to stop or eventually reverse the rise in obesity prevalence, broad, population-based approaches are needed. Obesity prevention can be achieved by promoting a healthy diet and a physically active lifestyle. In response to this Request for Application, a partnership with Eastman Kodak Co., the major employer in Rochester, NY, has been developed to test a worksite intervention for obesity prevention. The overall goal of this proposal is to design a comprehensive nutrition and physical activity strategy based on participatory research involving the three levels of the epidemiologic triad (host, environment, and agent) to promote a healthy lifestyle and, as a consequence, to stop the shift of the population body mass index curve to the right. In order to achieve the goal of this proposal, the specific aims are: (1) To gain a broad understanding of the social/cultural role of food and physical activity among workers as well as to elicit workers' perspectives on innovative interventions that are socially feasible and culturally acceptable; (2) To perform a Nested Pretest-Posttest Control Group Cross-Sectional design to test healthy lifestyle promotion interventions addressing portion control, healthy nutrition, and sedentarism. Six pairs of worksites will be randomized to intervention and control conditions. Two cross-sectional samples of employees within worksites will be measured at baseline and at the end of the intervention. The pattern of the outcome measures will be observed by following a cohort of employees overtime.; (3) To perform Process and Outcome Evaluation to assess the implementation of strategies and intermediate outcomes; (4) To identify the economic benefits of the workplace intervention by using a cost-effectiveness approach from the societal and business perspective; and (5) To develop methods for fast-track information dissemination across the scientific and occupational health disciplines. The strategies and tools developed will have a potential impact on 20,000 employees in the Rochester, NY area and 60,000 worldwide.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
1R01HL079511-01
Application #
6874576
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZHL1-CSR-G (S1))
Program Officer
Pratt, Charlotte
Project Start
2004-09-30
Project End
2008-06-30
Budget Start
2004-09-30
Budget End
2005-06-30
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2004
Total Cost
$596,981
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Rochester
Department
Public Health & Prev Medicine
Type
Schools of Dentistry
DUNS #
041294109
City
Rochester
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
14627
Fernandez, I Diana; Chin, Nancy P; Devine, Carol M et al. (2015) Images of a Healthy Worksite: A Group-Randomized Trial for Worksite Weight Gain Prevention With Employee Participation in Intervention Design. Am J Public Health 105:2167-74
Goetzel, Ron Z; Gibson, Teresa B; Short, Meghan E et al. (2010) A multi-worksite analysis of the relationships among body mass index, medical utilization, and worker productivity. J Occup Environ Med 52 Suppl 1:S52-8
Fernandez, Isabel Diana; Su, Haiyan; Su, Hayan et al. (2010) Association of workplace chronic and acute stressors with employee weight status: data from worksites in turmoil. J Occup Environ Med 52 Suppl 1:S34-41
Lande, Marc B; Pearson, Thomas A; Vermilion, Roger P et al. (2008) Elevated blood pressure, race/ethnicity, and C-reactive protein levels in children and adolescents. Pediatrics 122:1252-7
Pratt, Charlotte A; Fernandez, Isabel Diana; Stevens, Victor J (2007) Introduction and overview of worksite studies. Obesity (Silver Spring) 15 Suppl 1:1S-3S
Devine, Carol M; Nelson, Janet A; Chin, Nancy et al. (2007) ""Pizza is cheaper than salad"": assessing workers'views for an environmental food intervention. Obesity (Silver Spring) 15 Suppl 1:57S-68S
Pratt, Charlotte A; Lemon, Stephenie C; Fernandez, Isabel Diana et al. (2007) Design characteristics of worksite environmental interventions for obesity prevention. Obesity (Silver Spring) 15:2171-80