Empowering One Community at a Time for Policy, System and Environmental Changes to Impact Obesity

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Community Health Initiatives
• Health Disparities Research

Background:

• The Growing Healthy Communities (GHC) program identified mayoral involvement as key to significant obesity reduction.
• Mayors involved in GHC were recruited to share best practices, leading to the Mayors Mentoring Mayors (3M) initiative.
• The 3M program aimed to build community capacity for obesity prevention through policy, system, and environmental (PSE) changes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the Mayors Mentoring Mayors (3M) initiative.
• To detail the expansion of the 3M program across five states as a signature initiative of the Mid-South Transdisciplinary Collaborative Center (Mid-South TCC).
• To leverage mayoral leadership for implementing obesity PSE prevention strategies.

Main Methods:

• The 3M program extended the GHC model, focusing on mayoral engagement.
• A multi-state approach was developed to expand 3M, with the Arkansas Coalition for Obesity Prevention (ArCOP) partnering with the Mid-South TCC.
• Five regional Lunch & Learn events were conducted in Arkansas, involving mayors, community leaders, and stakeholders.

Main Results:

• A total of 98 participants attended the five Lunch & Learn events.
• Nine host mayors participated, sharing successes and lessons learned.
• Eight GHC Recognition Applications from five states were submitted, with five communities funded for GHC projects.

Conclusions:

• The ArCOP successfully engaged mayors, elected officials, and stakeholders across multiple states.
• The initiative facilitated the implementation of obesity PSE prevention strategies.
• The 3M program demonstrated a successful model for multi-state collaboration in public health.