Rapid anthropological assessment procedures for preventing childhood obesity in low-income minority communities

The Foundation's Obesity Team is using a variety of methods to analyze and understand the eating environments of low-income and minority children. Methods of anthropology are an important component of this analysis because they are a flexible way to discover potential forces at work, unlike surveys that rely on existing knowledge about those forces. Anthropology's methods are also useful to quickly gain insight about the epidemic in a particular community, to tailor interventions to that community's opportunities and barriers, and to make community-based participatory research more feasible and productive.This purpose of this project is to apply a rapid anthropological assessment to childhood obesity prevention in low-income minority communities. Products will be sequenced over the life of the project and will include a workshop engaging both researchers and community leaders; creation of a checklist, interview guide, and training manual; an interim report synthesizing findings for several communities in Chicago, Illinois; and initial training of a cohort of users. This project will be considered successful if the instrument is created and applied in several Chicago neighborhoods, if an initial cohort of users is trained, and if an interim report reveals new and helpful insight about the epidemic in low-income communities.

Grant Details

Amount Awarded $51,985.00

Awarded on: 4/29/2004

Time frame: 5/1/2004 - 10/31/2005

Grant Number: 50750