Gathering accurate childhood obesity data for the Richmond region is a Coalition priority. Coalition members believe the most effective way to gather data is by collaborating with the public school systems.
In 2014 and 2015, the Coalition will work with local school divisions to collect this important data. Specifically, the Coalition is encouraging school divisions to anonymously screen a sample of students. This is known as BMI surveillance and will identify the percentage of students who are obese, overweight, normal weight, and underweight. This important data will allow the Coalition to study trends over time, identify demographic groups at risk, support policy change efforts, and monitor the effects of current programming.