Initiative for a Healthy Weight

Since 2000, preventing obesity and related chronic diseases has been a priority for the Rhode Island Department of Health. Rhode Island was one of the first six states to receive funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop a coordinated obesity prevention infrastructure. The Department of Health started the Initiative for a Healthy Weight (IHW) program to lead the state in making it easier for Rhode Islanders to eat better and move more.

Vision

A Rhode Island where healthy eating and active living is the easy choice for all.

Mission

The mission of IHW is to prevent and control overweight and obesity. We work with partners to improve the physical and social environment to make eating better and moving more an easier choice. IHW will lead Rhode Island in achieving the objectives in Rhode Island’s Plan for Healthy Eating and Active Living by:

• Providing partners with tools, training, and resources implement sustainable policies, systems changes, environmental changes, and programs
• Connecting partners with each other to share knowledge, expertise, and resources
• Investing in and implementing effective and sustainable strategies to help Rhode Islanders eat better and move more

Goals

• Position the Department of Health and key partners in a leadership role for statewide obesity prevention efforts.
• Convene and lead a planning process to revise the State Plan and prioritize activities annually.
• Increase the number, reach, and quality of policies and standards that support healthy eating and active living.
• Increase access to and use of environments that support healthy eating and active living.
• Increase the number, reach, and quality of social and behavioral approaches that compliment policy and environmental strategies to promote healthy eating and active living.
• Enhance surveillance to monitor obesity and key behavioral and environmental risk factors.
• Evaluate progress towards meeting program and State Plan objectives.
• Share success stories and lessons learned

What We Do

Build nutrition and physical activity “infrastructure” to better address obesity prevention in Rhode Island

By building infrastructure, we mean our staff and our partners’ expertise and resources to implement statewide nutrition and physical activity policies and interventions. We do this by providing training to our partners and sharing best practices, improving communication and building partnerships around obesity prevention, and developing action plans with our partners to address obesity in a coordinated way. 

Implement policy, systems, and environmental changes that make eating better and moving more easier for all Rhode Islanders

We believe, and research shows, that behavior change is more likely to take place and continue when the environment makes it easier for people to make the healthy choice.  We develop and manage specific, evidence-based programs and initiatives with the goals of increasing physical activity and improving nutrition by changing the policies, systems, or environments that prevent people from making better choices. (more about us)

Analyze and track obesity-related data

We track and share obesity, physical activity, and nutrition trends in the state and make recommendations for programs and policies that will improve these trends. We produce reports on the state of obesity and related risk factors, as well as reports on obesity prevention efforts in Rhode Island.

Get Involved

Interested in getting involved in Rhode Island’s fight against obesity? Read more