TY - JOUR AU - Espinosa-Hall, Gloria AU - Metz, Diane L. AU - Johns, Margaret C. AU - Smith, Dorothy AU - Crawford, Patricia A. AU - Siemering, Kirstin AU - Ikeda, Joanne P. TI - UCCE helps community coalitions reduce childhood overweight JF - California Agriculture JO - Calif Agr Y1 - 2007/07/01 VL - 61 IS - 3 SP - 124 EP - 130 PB - University of California Agriculture and Nature Resources SN - 0008-0845 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.3733/ca.v061n03p124 L3 - 10.3733/ca.v061n03p124 AB - In 2001, UC Cooperative Extension nutrition specialists with the Center for Weight and Health introduced the Children and Weight: What Communities Can Do About It project, with the goal of reducing the prevalence of pediatric overweight. This project was designed to facilitate the formation of community coalitions, and to educate and empower them to improve or create environments that foster healthy lifestyles in children and their families at the local level. The project has been implemented in 13 California counties and by groups across the country. The “Spectrum of Prevention” is featured as a way to address the problem of pediatric overweight from multiple levels, ranging from educating individuals and providers to advocating for systemic and environmental change. Shasta CAN in Shasta County, the Solano County Children and Weight Coalition and the Kern County Childhood Overweight Coalition are presented as models of how coalitions can creatively plan and implement activities across the spectrum.