Peer-led Group Sessions to Improve Healthful Eating and Physical Activity in a Low-income Primary Care Clinic Population

Obesity is particularly challenging to prevent or treat because it involves changing two essential health behaviors in daily life: diet and exercise. Moreover, it is difficult to counsel effectively on a patient’s diet or to promote physical activity within the context of a 20-minute well-child check when there are other urgent patient-related medical and behavioral needs. What primary care often lacks is a system both to activate patients to make healthy dietary or activity changes and to support patients when they inevitably encounter barriers, particularly low-income families that experience food …