A Community Focused Participatory Research Program to Evaluate COSolutions

Childhood obesity is a complex, multi-faceted problem which has been traced to many preventable risk factors, not the least of which includes; food access, outdoor ads, crime/safety, racial and income disparities, as well as increasing sedentary behaviors caused by excessive screen time. The economic impact of obesity related disease has proven quite significant. The direct cost of childhood obesity is estimated at $14.1 billion with a treatment cost for obesity related diseases in adults now exceeding $147 billion annually. In 2008 the cost of obesity related illness to Medicare and Medicaid was $19.7 billion and $8 billion respectively. This Phase II research project provides the opportunity to better utilize technology to respond to social challenges, eliminate health disparity, and increase health and educational outcomes for our nation's children. This project will lead to the emergence of a versatile and cost-effective means to overcome any one of a number of public health problems through a technology driven infrastructure that synthesizes community and program activities into one coherent collaborative partnership to promote increased health and educational outcomes for vulnerable populations.