A Community-Academic Partnership to Address Disparities*

描述(由申请人提供)：正如《2010年健康人》中所概述的那样，消除健康差距，特别是在儿童肥胖方面，是美国的一个主要目标。近年来，年轻人的肥胖率一直在急剧上升，糖尿病和心血管疾病的风险也随之上升。在我们建议进行研究的洛杉矶县，非裔美国人和拉丁裔青少年的肥胖率比白人青少年高出约50%；亚太岛民青少年的现有数据也表明了差异。有限的体力活动和糟糕的饮食导致肥胖，在所有种族/族裔群体的年轻人中很普遍，但在非洲裔美国人和拉美裔美国人中尤其如此。我们提出了一个为期三年的基于社区的参与性研究项目，以开发和试行一种干预措施，解决洛杉矶联合学区青少年肥胖的种族/民族差异问题。我们的目标是(1)通过洛杉矶联合大学的工作人员、研究人员和主要社区利益相关者之间的有效合作，建立强有力的社区-学术合作伙伴关系，并评估社区对青少年肥胖相关项目的需求和优先事项；(2)共同设计一项试点干预措施，通过增加体育活动和/或健康饮食行为等潜在战略，减少/预防不同种族/族裔青少年的肥胖；以及(3)试点测试在不同种族/民族青少年中实施干预措施的可行性和效果。为了实现这些目标，我们将建立在洛杉矶联合大学、加州大学洛杉矶分校/兰德青少年健康促进中心以及洛杉矶卡森-威尔明顿地区这个种族和种族多元化社区的利益相关者之间的现有合作基础上。洛杉矶联合大学和社区利益攸关方已将解决青少年肥胖症问题确定为高度优先事项。我们将进行广泛的形成性工作，包括定性访谈、焦点小组、实地考察和与社区利益相关者的调查，以评估解决青少年肥胖问题的优先事项和潜在战略；我们将利用这些信息来设计和试点针对社区的独特干预措施。我们预计将根据试点结果修改干预措施，并寻求更多资金，以便在整个拉美和加勒比地区进行全面评估。我们还预计，在这一进程中建立的社区-学术伙伴关系和基础设施将使我们能够继续合作，解决洛杉矶青年面临的健康差距问题。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): As outlined in Healthy People 2010, eliminating health disparities, especially with respect to child obesity, is a major U.S. goal. Obesity rates among youth have been rising dramatically in recent years, with a concomitant rise in the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. In Los Angles County, the site of our proposed study, the prevalence of obesity among African-American and Latino teenagers is about 50% higher than for White teenagers; available data for Asian/Pacific Islander youth also suggest disparities. Limited physical activity and poor diet contribute to obesity and are prevalent among youth from all racial/ethnic groups, but especially among African Americans and Latinos. We propose a three-year community-based participatory research project to develop and pilot test an intervention that addresses racial/ethnic disparities in obesity among adolescents in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). We aim to (1) build a strong community-academic partnership and assess community needs and priorities for obesity-related programs among adolescents through effective collaboration among LAUSD staff, researchers, and key community stakeholders; (2.) jointly design a pilot intervention to reduce/prevent obesity among adolescents of diverse race/ethnicity through such potential strategies as increasing physical activity and/or healthy eating behaviors; and (3) pilot test the feasibility and effects of the intervention among adolescents of diverse race/ethnicity. To accomplish these aims, we will build upon an existing collaboration among LAUSD, the UCLA/RAND Center for Adolescent Health Promotion, and stakeholders in an ethnically and racially-diverse community-the Carson-Wilmington area of LA. LAUSD and community stakeholders have identified addressing adolescent obesity as a high priority. We will conduct extensive formative work, including qualitative interviews, focus groups, site visits, and surveys with community stakeholders, to assess priorities and potential strategies for addressing adolescent obesity; we will use this information to design and pilot test an intervention uniquely tailored to the community. We anticipate revising the intervention based on pilot results and seeking additional funds to conduct a full evaluation throughout LAUSD. We also anticipate that the community-academic partnership and infrastructure developed during this process will allow us to continue to collaborate in addressing health disparities facing the youth of LA.