Why do Organizations Focus on Health Equity in their Childhood Obesity Policy Work?

Crossmark: check for updates

Authors

  • Lainie Rutkow Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
  • Jessica C Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
  • Jones-Smith Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
  • Hannah J. Walters Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
  • Marguerite O’ Hara Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
  • Sara N. Bleich Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17140/PHOJ-1-111

Keywords:

Childhood obesity; Health disparities; Health equity; Public health practice; Health policy; Community-based organizations.

Abstract

Introduction: Childhood obesity disparities exist, yet little is known about why organizations focus on health equity (i.e., the absence of systematic disparities in health) when working in this area. Methods: From September 2014 to April 2015, we interviewed 43 policy-makers, non-gov-ernmental organization representatives, and academics to explore why organizations focus on health equity within their childhood obesity policy work. Results: Key themes included: organizational mission/focus on health equity, funders’ require-ments to prioritize health equity, and community engagement coupled with data availability to support their interest in health equity. Conclusions: Funders and other childhood obesity stakeholders can capitalize on these findings to facilitate activities that address health equity.

Downloads

Published

2016-12-31

How to Cite

Lainie Rutkow, Jessica C, Jones-Smith, Hannah J. Walters, Marguerite O’ Hara, & Sara N. Bleich. (2016). Why do Organizations Focus on Health Equity in their Childhood Obesity Policy Work?. Public Health - Open Journal, 1(3), 57–60. https://doi.org/10.17140/PHOJ-1-111

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 3 (2016): Volume 1 Issue 3 2016

Section

Articles

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

All content published in Public Health - Open Journal (PHOJ) is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). This license allows anyone to copy, distribute, transmit, and adapt the work — including for commercial purposes — provided appropriate credit is given to the original author(s) and source.