Healthy Weight Partnership is pleased to announce that the work done with the MEND programs in the Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration Project (CORD 1.0) was posted by the CDC in a Report to Congress on Friday 10.18.19  by the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity (DNPAO): https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/strategies/healthcare/cord1.html

The CDC’s mandated Report to Congress highlighted key findings from CORD 1.0, provided a brief overview of CORD 2.0 and included an appendix of publications and tools.

Some of the key findings and highlights of the program that the DNPAO division’s leadership highlighted were:

• CORD grantees were able to reach high-risk, underserved populations through clinical and community settings
• Target organizations were able to adopt and implement evidence-based interventions (e.g. NAPSACC, CATCH, SPARK, MEND)
• Caregivers were satisfied with the programs and interventions with good fidelity were found to improve health (e.g. decreases in BMI, improved self-esteem) in both community and healthcare settings
• Some program interventions were maintained after funding concluded due to embedding curriculum, training, services or utilizing other funding sources such as SNAP-ED
• Prevention interventions reached more children and cost less than treatment–related interventions but both were needed to support children and families
• Effective, evidence–based programs can be successfully delivered in venues serving low income children to benefit their health and ability to thrive

The CDC additionally noted in distribution that  “These additional pediatric programs can augment existing family-centered interventions that meet the USPSTF such as MEND https://healthyweightpartnership.org/ and the YMCA’s Healthy Weight and Your Child, which is currently available in many communities across the U.S.  The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) with support from CDC has also launched the COMMIT project in 4 states implementing MEND in FQHCs, more at: https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/downloads/data/DNPAO-HealthCare-Infographic-201902-508.pdf

Healthy Weight Partnership is pleased to have licensed the MEND program as the basis of the YMCA of the USA’s Healthy Weight and Your Child program and to continue working with a variety of organizations in the US to ensure the broad dissemination of MEND programs in a variety of community and healthcare settings in multiple states.

We continue to innovate and look for partners in communities across the USA and internationally for further roll-out that helps to get families the help they need to improve their health, manage and treat obesity and prevent associated chronic diseases, including Type 2 diabetes.