Community Interventions for the Prevention of Obesity

Community settings offer a unique set of opportunities to reach various individuals and groups at the local level (WHO, 2007) and are a necessary complement to the implementation of high‐profile, macro‐level policies. Members of a community share cultural or ethnic backgrounds and are exposed to the same environmental determinants. The rationale of acting at the local level is its capacity to facilitate cross‐sector efforts (King and Gill, 2009). Within a community, there is a potential to mobilise human resources such that different dynamics and synergies translate into better possibilities to "partner, collaborate, expand and enrich" an intervention (Economos and Irish‐Hauser, 2007). This is particularly important given that increased and effective engagement of stakeholders enhances the prospects of a successful implementation of interventions aimed at changing lifestyles (WHO, 2007; King and Gill, 2009).