AN ACADEMIC-COMMUNITY-CLINIC PARTNERSHIP TO REDUCE WEIGHT IN HISPANIC YOUTH: FIT FOR HEALTH

FIT for Health is a family-based weight management program taught by medical and graduate students delivered in a neighborhood clinic that includes behavioral skills, self-monitoring and a social networking website. Purpose (a): To develop an academic-community partnership, FIT for Health, to deliver a weight management program to low-income underserved communities who experience obesity related health disparities. Methods (b): Families with an overweight child (N=12; mean age = 11.8 (SD=2.1) years, 83% female, 100% Hispanic, mean BMI% = 96.3) were recruited by medical staff in a neighborhood clinic. Results (c): Youth maintained their weight over the 9-week program and demonstrated a small decrease in BMI percentile (96.3 to 96.0). The program demonstrated high satisfaction with an 84% attendance rate and 100% of families reporting enjoyment of the program, 89% were happy with their progress, and 100% felt they did a good job getting healthier. In addition, 78% of volunteer students reported an increase in knowledge about delivering community-based health promotion programs. Conclusions (d): The FIT academic-community-clinic model is a novel, cost-effective, and promising health promotion program that can provide resources to underserved low-income, ethnic minority families along with opportunities for students to participate in community-based health promotion.