East Tennessee Childhood Obesity Coalition

The Childhood Obesity Coalition was started in October 2008 led by East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. Since then, the Coalition has grown to include more than 50 community agencies and organizations represented by over 130 individuals. In Spring 2018, the University of Tennessee’s Department of Nutrition, under leadership from the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Nutrition Leadership and Education Program faculty and funded trainees in the program, took over facilitation of the coalition. It was renamed the East Tennessee Childhood Obesity Coalition (ETCOC).

The Coalition’s mission is to prevent and reduce childhood obesity by promoting healthy, active lifestyles through family, community and interprofessional collaborations. Our vision: All children in East Tennessee have equitable access to nourishing foods, equitable opportunities for physical activity, and inclusive community resources to support healthy lifestyles. ETCOC’s overall goal is to facilitate collaborations that maximize funding to help assure children in East Tennessee can lead healthy lives.

The Coalition’s work is undertaken by three committees: Policy, Assessment and Outreach. We invite you or your organization to join a committee or participate in a variety of other ways. Working together we can improve the health of children and families.

Our three committees are currently working on following goals and objectives supporting ETCOC’s overall mission and vision:

Policy Committee
- Goal: Facilitate collaborations that maximize policies to improve child health in East Tennessee.
Assessment Committee
- Goal: Provide a comprehensive assessment of food access, physical activity opportunities, and community resources/programs to improve child health in East Tennessee.
Outreach Committee
- Goal: Work together to leverage resources for robust outreach to community partners, families, and community organizations/agencies.
  - Provide a repository for evidence-based obesity interventions (similar to the Community Guide, Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention: Solving the Weight of the Nation, and the Children in Nature Network) as guiding documents.