Cornell NutritionWorks: Addressing obesity at the community level

Approximately one-third of all adults in the United States are obese and nearly 17 percent of youth are obese.  This national epidemic leads to an increased risk of diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, sleep disorders, joint problems, as well as social and psychological problems for millions of Americans.  

While there is an urgent need to address obesity with a focus on prevention, it can be difficult – even for a professional – to sort through all of the information about diet and health in the media, on the Internet, and even at grocery stores.

Enter Cornell NutritionWorks, an online professional development program for nutrition, health, and youth professionals such as registered dietitians, extension nutrition and 4-H educators, public health nutritionists, health education specialists, and school food service directors.   

Cornell NutritionWorks uses distance-learning technology to provide cutting edge nutrition information, interaction with Cornell experts, discussion forums for practitioners and continuing education credit for nutrition professionals. The program is lead by Cornell Senior Extension Associate Christina Stark, who’s spent nearly 30 years interpreting and communicating research-based information on food and nutrition issues to extension educators, other professionals, consumers and the media.

“To prevent childhood obesity, professionals need to look beyond focusing just on individual behavior change,” Stark says “We need to work collaboratively with community partners to change local environments so they support healthy eating and active living. For many professionals, this is a new way of thinking and working. Cornell NutritionWorks provides training in using this new evidence-based approach.”

Current offerings on the website include:

  • Preventing Childhood Obesity: An Ecological Approach, an in-depth six-week online course, offered three times a year, that helps participants use an ecological approach to identify local factors that contribute to childhood obesity and develop an action plan for their communities.  The next session will be offered fall 2010. There is a fee for this course.
  • Has the Food Revolution Reached Washington?, a cyber-presentation by Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University and a visiting professor at Cornell. The talk examines how the U.S. food system contributes to our obesity epidemic, describes current food industry trends that affect consumers’ ability to choose healthy foods, and outlines the evidence for a food revolution in the United States.
  • The Built Environment, Food, and Physical Activity, a cyber- presentation by Ann Forsyth, professor in Cornell’s Department of City and Regional Planning, that discusses ways to think about the built environment, food, and physical activity measures to improve community health.

To get the latest, research-based information on nutrition and health, Cornell NutritionWorks is the place to go.  All of the content, with the exception of the in-depth course, is available to members at no charge. And membership is free.

Comments

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  2. Nikki says:

    Addressing the issue of childhood obesity at the community level is smart– particularly when it comes to creating new “built environments” for kids to play in. The Notah Begay III Foundation out in New Mexico recently engaged the Pueblo of San Felipe to build a soccer field for Native youth to play on. You can view a video of the field by visiting, http://www.notah.com/foundation

  3. Dianne Olsen says:

    Don’t leave out horticulture and natural resource educators in this mix. CCE/Putnam County is beginning a year-long program (Families Growing Together) to teach families with children how to grow their own food. Goals? Combat childhood obesity, bring families together outdoors, teach sustainable ag, showcase a community garden. We received a United Way grant to fund the program which starts in October, teaching the participants how to prepare their plots and ends next September with a harvest meal celebration.

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