Pilot Project to Integrate Community and Clinical Level Systems to Address Health Disparities in the Prevention and Treatment of Obesity among Ethnic Minority Inner-City Middle School Students: Lessons Learned.

Effective obesity prevention and treatment interventions are lacking in the United States, especially for impoverished minority youths at risk for health disparities, and especially in accessible community-based settings. We describe the launch and pilot implementation evaluation of the first year of the initiative as a middle school-based comprehensive wellness program that integrates weight management programming into existing onsite preventive and clinical services. Consistent with the existing implementation science literature, we focused on both the organizational structures that facilitate communication and the development of trust among stakeholders, students, and families and the development of realistic and timely goals to implement and integrate all aspects of the program.