Conducting a Community Street Survey to Inform an Obesity Intervention The WE Project

Using a community-based participatory research approach, a citywide survey was conducted to explore perceptions of obesity and interventions to reduce obesity within an African American urban community. More than 1300 surveys were collected within 3 months; 92.9% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that obesity was an important health issue in the community and the majority indicated that family-based interventions were the preferred pathway for improving physical activity (86.0%) and nutrition (85.2%). Engaging community members in survey development and implementation was an effective approach to build local research capacity and establish a shared agenda of reaching a diverse sample of community residents.

Automated summary

Using a community-based participatory research approach, a citywide survey was conducted to explore perceptions of obesity and interventions to reduce obesity within an African American urban community. The majority of respondents agreed that family-based interventions were the preferred pathway for improving physical activity and nutrition. Engaging community members in survey development and implementation proved to be an effective approach in building local research capacity and establishing a shared agenda.