This week the Inside Track continues a series of interviews with members of the Strategic Advisory Committee of Voices for Healthy Kids, a joint initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and American Heart Association, exploring their various contributions to the fight against childhood obesity.
In her more than 25 years in public health, Jamie Chriqui has researched a wide variety of issues, from drug abuse prevention to tobacco policy. But, she says, she “never realized how complicated a public health issue could be until I moved to obesity.”
At the Institute of Health Research and Policy (IHRP), based at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Chriqui and her colleagues carry on ambitious, large-scale, nationwide studies to assess school health policies and practices from the federal, state, and local perspectives.
Chriqui originally studied political science. She began her public health career at the National Institute on Drug Abuse – studying for a master’s and PhD in health policy while working full time – then worked as a research contractor for other government agencies. In 2007, she joined the IHRP to, among other initiatives, work on the Bridging the Gap project.
Bridging the Gap, a project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, originally started in the mid-1990s with a focus on how policy change could have an impact on preventing teen drug abuse. When the foundation shifted focus to the childhood obesity crisis, the Bridging the Gap followed suit.
Among the issues Chriqui – who also is a professor in the university’s School of Public Health – and her IHRP colleagues study, in research funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, are the impact of beverage taxation; food marketing; and how local zoning codes affect community walkability.
“We’re sort of a unique program” because of the cross-cutting nature of the research, she said. One key project in recent years has been the country’s largest ongoing nationwide evaluation of congressionally mandated school health policies.
On the Strategic Advisory Committee, Chriqui represents IHRP director Frank Chaloupka, as well as serving on Voices for Healthy Kids’ “school hub” and advising the beverage hub on taxation of sugar-sweetened drinks and other issues.
“Our work cuts across many Voices [for Healthy Kids] priorities,” she notes. “Our work is very policy-relevant, so we try to tailor whatever we’re doing currently to wherever appropriate to dovetail with what Voices’ interests are.”
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Leaders are people who are actively working - either professionally or as volunteers - to change policies and environments to help children eat better and be more active. We use the following criteria to evaluate whether to approve an applicant for Leader status with the Voices for Healthy Kids Action Center.
Do you meet the criteria below? If so, register as a Leader here. There is no cost to be a Leader.
At least one item must be checked within each of the following two categories:
1. Applicant is focused on changing policies and environments
They are working on one of Voices for Healthy Kid's six issue areas:
Ensure foods and beverages in schools meet dietary guidelines
Expand community access to high quality food
Expand physical activity programs in and out of school
Improve built environment in communities to increase physical activity
Use pricing strategies to promote purchase of healthier foods
Use regulation/policy to reduce youth exposure to unhealthy food marketing
They are working on other obesity-related issues, such as:
Transportation policy
Other
Their primary focus is working on individual behavior (e.g., teaching kids about food, play, etc.), but they have access to organizations that could provide opportunities to change environments, such as
Schools
Local Governments
Public Health Agencies
Food producers
Advertisers
Other
Their project is commercial, but contributes positively to changing policies and environments, such as:
Farmer's market
Supermarket
Farmer
Food company
Advertiser
Other
2. Applicant is organizing others or contributing to organizing efforts
They are organizing others by:
Doing training
Providing volunteer opportunities
Building contact lists of supporters to engage in advocacy
Holding events
Other
They provide support to organizations or leaders doing work changing policies and environments, such as:
Funding
Evaluation
Capacity Building
Research
Other
They are a leader in a governmental body that may be the target of organizing efforts to change policies and environments, such as a:
Federal or state agency
Mayor or other local executive office
Federal, state, county or local public health department
Federal, state, county or transportation department
Federal, state or local education agency or school board
Other
If the applicant claims to work for an organization, at least one item must be checked below:
3. Applicant works for an organization:
Has an email address that matches the domain of the organization they list
Is listed on the organization website as staff
The Voices for Healthy Kids Action Center is looking for bloggers who can write about issues that matter to our community on a regular basis. If you would like to be considered for this network, please check this box.
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