Christina Stark, senior extension associate in the Division of Nutritional Sciences, has received nearly $500,000 in funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture to train teams of extension professionals and community partners in collaborative, ecological approaches for childhood obesity prevention.

The grant, part of $11 million awarded nationwide, will build on the success of "Preventing Childhood Obesity: An Ecological Approach," an online continuing education course facilitated by Stark that has reached more than 300 professionals in nutrition, public health, cooperative extension and other fields since 2006.

Through the six-week course, Stark teaches individuals and teams how to develop an action plan for creating health-promoting environments in homes, schools and neighborhoods along with other local partners. By improving a community's physical, social, economic and policy environments, individuals are more likely to succeed at changing their diet and exercise behaviors.

"It's not enough to just focus on changing individual behaviors. We need to address the environmental factors that influence those behaviors," Stark said. "Using an ecological approach requires a new way of working that goes beyond delivering educational programs."

With the funding, Stark will target more 4-H educators as participants, since they work regularly with youth in various community settings, and also include teams from regions outside the Northeast, with a goal of reaching 150 teams of three or more professionals during the next four years.

The grant also will enable Stark and co-principal investigator Barbara Schirmer, state 4-H youth development program leader for Cornell Cooperative Extension, to study the effectiveness of the online course at the community level.

Ted Boscia is assistant director of communications for the College of Human Ecology.