NC-HWI

NC Healthy Weight Initiative
NC-HWI

The NC Healthy Weight Initiative is the focal point and coordinating group for issues related to healthy weight, nutrition, and physical activity for North Carolina children. It was established in October 2000 within the Women's and Children's Health Section of the Division of Public Health. Initial funding was provided by a three-year grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to focus on children ages 2 to 18 years.

NC-HWI is a collaborative effort between partners both internal and external to the NC Division of Public Health. Internal partners include the Children and Youth Branch and Nutrition Services Branch in the Women's and Children's Health Section, and the Cardiovascular Health Program and the Physical Activity and Nutrition Unit in the Health Promotion Branch. External partners include NC Cooperative Extension Service, NC Prevention Partners, UNC Institute of Nutrition, and the UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. The NC-HWI currently has three major areas of responsibility:

Development, dissemination and marketing of a comprehensive state plan to address childhood overweight and related chronic diseases;
Surveillance of trends in the prevalence of overweight and key nutrition and physical activity behaviors in children; and
Implementation of a multilevel intervention that is designed to improve the nutrition and physical activity behaviors of young children and their families through policy and environmental changes and education.

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