Assessing ShapingNJ: The State Partnership for Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity

The Office of Nutrition and Fitness (ONF) at the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior (DHSS) received funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop and implement a state specific plan to prevent and control obesity and other related chronic diseases through healthful eating and physical activity. To meet these goals, ONF is building a statewide partnership, ShapingNJ, that is focusing on environmental and policy changes around obesity and chronic disease prevention. CSHP will conduct a survey to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the coalition and report the results to ONF and the partnership members with the aim to support continuous improvement and strengthening of partnership efforts. The project staff will develop a web-based assessment instrument which will be administered to the membership of ShapingNJ. Furthermore, CSHP will develop and pilot a plan to assess the current status of environmental and policy change strategies proposed by ShapingNJ workgroups using measures proposed in CDC's "Community Strategies and Measurements to Prevent Obesity in the United States" guide. Three strategies will be identified for this pilot. CSHP staff will also identify and use additional measures to supplement CDC recommendations.