Families In Action

Why is it important to address childhood obesity?

Overweight and obesity are some of the most common health problems facing children in Canada. Given the risk of severe health consequences associated with obesity, effective prevention targeting children from high-risk ethnic groups is crucial to address this problem.

Background to Families in Action:

London, Ontario is home to one of the fastest growing Latino communities in Ontario. This ethnic group is at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes. A group of stakeholders, lead by the Diabetes Team at the London InterCommunity Health Center, have been working in partnership with the local Latin-American community since 1998 to target diabetes prevention and management. Early efforts focused on mobilizing a team of Latino professionals to provide a culturally and linguistically relevant diabetes screening program for adults.  Children often accompanied their parents to these community diabetes screening events and an alarming pattern of pediatric obesity was observed. A growing body of evidence connected childhood obesity in high-risk ethnic communities with an increasing prevalence of type 2 diabetes in adolescents and young adults. The Adult Diabetes Screening and Prevention program was adapted to include a peadiatric screening and risk management component, and it was aptly renamed “Families in Action”.

Our Partners:

• Brescia University College
• Children’s Hospital of Western Ontario
• London Health Sciences Centre
• The Middlesex-London Health Unit
• Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry
• St. Joseph’s Health Care Primary Care Diabetes Support Program
• The University of Western Ontario
• The YMCA of London

Our Funders:

• Canadian Diabetes Association
• Public Health Agency of Canada
• The Lawson Foundation

Sections included in the FIA manual:

• Training & Resource Package
• Multicultural Reality of Peadiatric Obesity in Canada
• Current Recommendations for the Management and Treatment of Peadiatric Obesity
• Personal and Organizational Readiness:  Considerations Before You Begin
• Getting a Community – Based Diabetes Prevention Program Started
• Running Your First Event
• Keeping Your Program Running
• Additional Tips and Tools for the Case Manager

Purpose:

The Latino “Families in Action” Program aims to reduce obesity related type 2 diabetes and its associated health disparities in a vulnerable ethnic group. This is achieved through screening for high-risk individuals, who then enter a 6-month intervention program involving anthropometric measures, biochemical data, and nutrition and health counselling sessions. The growing global village reality of Canada’s diabetes epidemic and the potential for this program to be useful with other ethnic groups at high risk for childhood obesity and Type II Diabetes adds to the significance of this study. 

Who is this manual for?

The “Families in Action” resource manual has been created to provide other communities with step-by step instructions that will enable them to introduce a community-based, family-focused, and culturally sensitive paediatric obesity screening and risk management program into their community. The resource is designed for use by community agencies that serve newcomers to communities or by those who are mandated to address diabetes prevention. Its main objectives include providing health care professionals with a culturally appropriate diabetes prevention model that can be adapted to meet the needs of specific communities.  It also aims to increase the awareness of diabetes primary prevention strategies for high-risk ethnocultural populations among health care professionals using community development approaches.