HEALTH CARE SYSTEM

Tools, Tips and How To...

• Research, Data & Reports
• Policy Issues
• Additional Resources

Research, Data & Reports

Promoting Healthy Eating and Physical Activity in Health Care Settings

This brief provides an overview of the deficiency of healthy eating and physical activity promotion inclinical practice and health care settings. It provides examples and recommendations for changing the focus of clinical practice to prevention and improving the nutrition and physical activity environment in health care facilities.

Health Care Reform Policy: Brief Reducing Health Care Costs Through Prevention

The current health care reform debate in California is driven in large part by fundamental concerns about ever-growing, unsustainable costs. Immediate cost-containment efforts are necessary, but they alone will not solve the long-term problem. Investment in primary prevention has the potential to be part of an enduring solution for improved health and health care.

Background Paper on the Prevention and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity
This paper provides a fairly in-depth discussion of the current research on approaches to prevention and treatment of overweight and obesity. It explores a variety of policy and programmatic approaches that can be taken in schools, the community and the health care setting.

Center for the Advancement of Health: Health Behavior Change in Managed Care
Health Behavior Change in Managed Care: A Status Report, Selected Evidence for Behavioral Risk Reduction in Clinical Settings: Physical Inactivity is "the first report of its kind to discuss the degree to which proven behavior change strategies are integrated into medical care." The Center's website has a news release on the report which includes contact information for ordering the complete report.

Clinical Guidelines for the Prevention on Overweight and Obesity
The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute provides numerous resources for clinicians and other health care providers who address overweight and obesity, from complete clinical guidelines to a description of community initiatives like Hearts N' Parks.

Fast Food Franchises in Hospitals
This news release announces a study of the University of Michigan Health System that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2002 that discovered that many of the nation's hospitals had fast-food restaurants on site.

Policy Issues

Prevention of Pediatric Overweight and Obesity
In recognition of the escalating health care problems associated with childhood overweight, obesity and diabetes, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a policy brief discussing the role of pediatricians in addressing physical inactivity and unhealthy eating among children and youth. Prevention of Pediatric Overweight and Obesity Policy Statement, Pediatrics vol. 112, number 2. August 2003;(424-430)

Additional Resources

The Surgeon General's Call To Action To Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity: Setting 3, Health Care
The Surgeon General's Call to Action outlines the activities, research and evaluation that needs to take place in the health care setting to effectively prevent overweight and obesity.