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Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration (CORD) 1.0

Photo: A doctor placing a stethoscope on a girl's chest.

Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration Projects (CORD)

Integrating Primary Care and Community-Based Strategies to Prevent and Treat Childhood Obesity

All children deserve to grow up at a healthy weight. Many research initiatives have studied ways to prevent and manage childhood obesity. Historically, these initiatives had a limited ability to affect the multiple community settings that influence children’s nutrition and physical activity behaviors.

In 2011, with funds authorized from the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act, CDC funded three community grantees and one evaluation center to conduct Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration Projects (CORD 1.0). These 4-year projects were designed to cover various levels of the socioecological model (SEM). The projects combined efforts from pediatric health care settings with public health interventions in schools, early care and education centers, and communities.

CORD 1.0 targeted communities with a high proportion of children from low-income working families. The three selected grantees worked in both rural and urban communities in Texas, Massachusetts, and California. The CORD 1.0 project funding period ended on September 29, 2015.

Building on what was learned from the first demonstration, CORD 2.0 focuses on improving clinical-community linkages for the prevention and management of childhood obesity. CORD 2.0 tests a model that increases obesity screening and counseling services for eligible children in the selected communities, and refers them to local pediatric weight management programs. Learn more about CORD 2.0.

The Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration (CORD) Project: A Comprehensive Community Approach to Reduce Childhood Obesity explains how the research project was conceived and developed.

CORD: A Supplement to the Journal, Childhood Obesity is a special issue of research articles of baseline assessments related to the CORD Project.

CORD Project: Webinar

Commentaries
Sekhobo, J. P. (2017), Estimation of WIC effects in multilevel, cross-sector obesity prevention interventions. Obesity, 25: 1157–1158.

Economos, C. D. and Hammond, R. A. (2017), Designing effective and sustainable multifaceted interventions for obesity prevention and healthy communities. Obesity, 25: 1155–1156.

Special Supplement
The Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration (CORD) Project http://online.liebertpub.com/toc/chi/11/1

Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration Project 1.0 (CORD) Publications

Clinical effectiveness of the Massachusetts childhood obesity research demonstration initiative among low-income children.  Taveras EM, Perkins M, Anand S, Woo Baidal JA, Nelson CC, Kamdar N, Kwass JA, Gortmaker SL, Barrett JL, Davison KK, Land T. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2017 Jul;25(7):1159-1166

Childhood obesity prevention in the women, infants, and children program: Outcomes of the MA-CORD study. Woo Baidal JA, Nelson CC, Perkins M, Colchamiro R, Leung-Strle P, Kwass JA, Gortmaker SL, Davison KK, Taveras EM. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2017 Jul;25(7):1167-1174.

Student obesity prevalence and behavioral outcomes for the Massachusetts childhood obesity research demonstration project. Franckle RL, Falbe J, Gortmaker S, Barrett JL, Giles C, Ganter C, Blaine RE, Buszkiewicz J, Taveras EM, Kwass JA, Land T, Davison KK. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2017 Jul;25(7):1175-1182.

Using School Staff Members to Implement a Childhood Obesity Prevention Intervention in Low-Income School Districts: the Massachusetts Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration (MA-CORD Project), 2012–2014. Blaine RE, Franckle RL, Ganter C, Falbe J, Giles C, Criss S, et al. Prev Chronic Dis 2017;14:160381.

Factors Affecting Implementation of the California Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration (CA-CORD) Project, 2013. Chuang E, Brunner J, Moody J, Ibarra L, Hoyt H, McKenzie TL, et al. Prev Chronic Dis 2016;13:160238.

Community Stakeholders’ Perceptions of Major Factors Influencing Childhood Obesity, the Feasibility of Programs Addressing Childhood Obesity, and Persisting Gaps. Ganter C, Aftosmes-Tobio A, Chuang E, Blaine RE, Land T, Davison KK. J Community Health. 2016 Apr;41(2):305-14.

A Cascade of Champions: A Qualitative Study about the MA-CORD Media Competition Implementation. Criss S, Tran A, Ganter C, Aftosmes-Tobio A, Gortmaker S, Viswanath K, Kwass JA, Davison KK. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2016 Apr 5;13(4):404.

Media Competition Implementation for the Massachusetts Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration Study (MA-CORD): Adoption and Reach. Criss S, Cheung L, Giles C, Gortmaker S, Viswanath K, Kwass JA, Davison K. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2016 Apr 5;13(4):403.

Rationale, Design, and Methods for Process Evaluation in the Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration Project. Joseph S, Stevens AM, Ledoux T, O’Connor TM, O’Connor DP, Thompson D. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2015 Nov-Dec;47(6):560-565.e1.

Development of the Policy Indicator Checklist: A Tool to Identify and Measure Policies for Calorie-Dense Foods and Sugar-Sweetened Beverages across Multiple Settings. Lee RE, Hallett AM, Parker N, Kudia O, Kao D, Modelska M, Rifai H, O’Connor DP.  Am J Public Health. 2015 May;105(5):1036-43.

Insufficient Sleep among Elementary and Middle School Students is linked with Elevated Soda Consumption and other Unhealthy Dietary Behaviors. Franckle RL, Falbe J, Gortmaker S, Ganter C, Taveras EM, Land T, Davison KK.  Prev Med. 2015 May;74:36-41.

Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration (CORD): the Cross-Site Overview and Opportunities for Interventions Addressing Obesity Community-Wide. Foltz JL, Belay B, Dooyema CA, Williams N, Blanck HM.  Child Obes. 2015 Feb;11(1):4-10.

Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration Project: Cross-Site Evaluation Methods. O’Connor DP, Lee RE, Mehta P, Thompson D, Bhargava A, Carlson C, Kao D, Layne CS, Ledoux T, O’Connor T, Rifai H, Gulley L, Hallett AM, Kudia O, Joseph S, Modelska M, Ortega D, Parker N, Stevens A; EC-CORD (BETTER Policies) Team. Child Obes. 2015 Feb;11(1):92-103.

Evaluation Overview for the Massachusetts Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration (MA-CORD) Project. Davison KK, Falbe J, Taveras EM, Gortmaker S, Kulldorff M, Perkins M, Blaine RE, Franckle RL, Ganter C, Baidal JW, Kwass JA, Buszkiewicz J, Smith L, Land T; MA-CORD Study Group. Child Obes. 2015 Feb;11(1):23-36.

Evaluation Protocol to assess an Integrated Framework for the Implementation of the Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration Project at the California (CA-CORD) and Massachusetts (MA-CORD) Sites. Chuang E, Ayala GX, Schmied E, Ganter C, Gittelsohn J, Davison KK. Child Obes. 2015 Feb;11(1):48-57.

Incorporating Primary and Secondary Prevention Approaches to address Childhood Obesity Prevention and Treatment in a Low-Income, Ethnically Diverse Population: Study Design and Demographic Data from the Texas Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration (TX CORD) Study.  Hoelscher DM, Butte NF, Barlow S, Vandewater EA, Sharma SV, Huang T, Finkelstein E, Pont S, Sacher P, Byrd-Williams C, Oluyomi AO, Durand C, Li L, Kelder SH. Child Obes. 2015 Feb;11(1):71-91.

Our Choice/Nuestra Opción: the Imperial County, California, Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration Study (CA-CORD). Ayala GX, Ibarra L, Binggeli-Vallarta A, Moody J, McKenzie TL, Angulo J, Hoyt H, Chuang E, Ganiats TG, Gahagan S, Ji M, Zive M, Schmied E, Arredondo EM, Elder JP. Child Obes. 2015 Feb;11(1):37-47.

The Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration Project: A Team Approach for Supporting a Multisite, Multisector Intervention.  Williams N, Dooyema CA, Foltz JL, Belay B, Blanck HM. Child Obes. 2015 Feb;11(1):104-8.

The Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration Project: Linking Public Health Initiatives and Primary Care Interventions Community-wide to Prevent and Reduce Childhood Obesity. Blanck HM, Collins JL. Child Obes. 2015 Feb;11(1):1-3.

The Utility of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in Systems-Oriented Obesity Intervention Projects: The Selection of Comparable Study Sites for a Quasi-Experimental Intervention Design–TX CORD. Oluyomi AO, Byars A, Byrd-Williams C, Sharma SV, Durand C, Hoelscher DM, Butte NF, Kelder SH.  Child Obes. 2015 Feb;11(1):58-70.

The Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration Project: A Comprehensive Community Approach to Reduce Childhood Obesity. Dooyema CA, Belay B, Foltz JL, Williams N, Blanck HM.  Child Obes. 2013 Oct;9(5):454-9.

CORD 1.0

Texas CORD Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration Project at the University of Texas at Austin, is designed to test community-based obesity prevention and treatment programs in Austin and Houston. Review some of the project details at this website. Learn about the of University of Texas’s efforts to help children and their families eat healthier and be active.

The Imperial County Childhood Obesity Project (ICCOP): An Ecological Approach to Addressing Childhood Obesity in Imperial County is a project of the Institute for Behavioral and Community Health at San Diego State University and its partners, the Clínicas de Salud del Pueblo, Inc. and the Imperial County Public Health Department.

Harvard (CORD) Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration Project is a partnership between the Harvard School of Public Health, and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Massachusetts in collaboration with local partners in addressing childhood obesity in CORD.

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