TY - JOUR AU - Schaefer, Sara E. AU - Camacho-Gomez, Rosa AU - Sadeghi, Banefsheh AU - Kaiser, Lucia AU - German, J. Bruce AU - de la Torre, Adela PY - 2015 TI - Assessing Child Obesity and Physical Activity in a Hard-to-Reach Population in California's Central Valley, 2012-2013 T2 - Preventing Chronic Disease JO - Prev Chronic Dis SP - E117 VL - 12 CY - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA. N2 - INTRODUCTION In California's agricultural Central Valley, the rate of childhood obesity is higher than the national average. Adequate physical activity contributes to obesity prevention and its assessment is useful to evaluate the impact of interventions. METHODS Ninos Sanos, Familia Sana (Healthy Children, Healthy Family [NSFS]) uses community-based participatory research to implement an intervention program to reduce childhood obesity among people of Mexican origin in the Central Valley. Anthropometric measurements were conducted on more than 650 children enrolled in NSFS. Physical activity data from a subgroup of children aged 4 to 7 years (n = 134) were collected via a wearable accelerometer. RESULTS Children were classified on the basis of age and sex-adjusted body mass index as healthy weight (57.7%); overweight (19.3%), or obese (23%). Logistic regression showed that moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was associated with a child's likelihood of having a healthy BMI (odds ratio: 1.03; 95% CI, 1.01-1.05; P = .017). CONCLUSION NSFS's community-based participatory approach resulted in successful use of a commercial electronic device to measure physical activity quantity and quality in this hard-to-reach population. Promotion of adequate daily MVPA is an appropriate and necessary component of NSFS's childhood obesity prevention strategy. SN - 1545-1151 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd12.140577 DO - 10.5888/pcd12.140577 ER -