>Personal Health >WIC >Providers >Baby

Better Weight for a Better You (BABY)

This program is no longer funded- but serves as a model for other Health Departments and Health Care Providers to follow.

Better Weight for a Better You (BABY), a leader in health prevention and social justice, was a lifestyle change program first conducted at the Orange County Health Department for overwieght and obese postpartum Black and Hispanic women enrolled in the Orange County WIC program. The program was a 25 week goal based behavorial and cross-cultural intervention aimed at promoting healthy weight through lifestyle change encompassing nutrition, behavior modification, and physical activity.

It was funded over four years from 2005-2009 by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Maternal and Child Health Division.

The goal of the program was for participants to:

• Lose 5% or more of their initial body weight
• Learn to make healthier food choices
• Incorporate a minimum of 150 minutes per week of moderate intensity physical activity in their daily lives

The Better Weight for a Better You (BABY) program attained or exceeded all performance measures. Some of the results of the 127 participants include:

• Total weight loss of 1,535 pounds
• 382 inches decrease in combined waist circumference
• 42% decrease in the number of women at risk for mild, moderate, and severe depression as per the beck Depression Inventory II (N=71)

As a result of the program, it promoted healthier weights and lifestlyes in participant's families, as husbands and children also attained healthier wieghts.

The program was presented in over 25 local, national and international meetings and conferences including:

• American Public Health Association Annual Meeting and Exposition- November 2006, Boston, MA
• First Governor's Conference on Women's Health, May 2006
• Healthy Start Grantee meeting, June 2006
• Minority Women's Summit, August 2007
• State and Federal Partnership Annual Meeting, October 2006
• Florida Department of Health, April 2007
• National Association of County and City Health Officials Annual Conference, 2007