# Project 1:  Physical Health - Public Health Approaches to Prevent and Reduce Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease:  The "Church Challenge" to Create Healthier Communities

> **NIH NIH U54** · MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $270,067

## Abstract

Healthy living is critical to prevention of chronic diseases. Previous research has shown multilevel public health 
intervention programs to be the most effective strategy for promoting health, as these programs offer individual, 
community, and structural opportunities for healthy behaviors. Existing evidence based physical activity and 
healthy eating interventions have shown improvements in physical activity and consumption of fruits and 
vegetables, but only with community and structural interventions have the increases in activity and healthy eating 
been sustained well-after the intervention was complete. Economically deprived communities suffer from an 
absence of both environmental and person-level resources, including food shortages and limited safe 
recreational space, to support healthy living behaviors, including physical activity and healthy eating. The Church 
Challenge is a physical activity and diet intervention that was developed by Flint-area churchgoers and the 
Genesee County Health Department in response to concerns about parishioners’ fitness and weight. It is a two- 
level (church and individual) level intervention to help kick-start congregant physical activity and dietary changes. 
At the church level, churches facilitate: (1) three history lessons on why African-Americans have the dietary 
patterns that they do and information on how these patterns can be adjusted to be healthier; (2) healthy cooking 
classes; (3) church social and peer support in the form of regular announcements and groups within each church 
who compete in a church-based weight loss challenge; and (4) access to a local church-based food pantry. In 
addition, the program incorporates scripture and other spiritual principles (it was developed primarily by pastors). 
At the individual level, individuals commit to (1) attending the healthy cooking classes and historical lessons, and 
(2) select, publicly commit to, and attend 3 specific aerobics classes weekly at a local church-affiliated fitness 
center. The proposed project will add and assess the effects of a third, community level, intervention: engaging 
participating churches in policy advocacy and private sector communications to improve healthy land use in Flint 
(e.g., by reintroducing a large scale grocery market to the city of Flint, providing sidewalks, bike lanes, and other 
safe places for physical activity that do not require cars for residents to access). We will examine how the third 
level intervention increases churches’ capacity for and participation in community advocacy around policy issues. 
We are not aware of another faith-involved intervention RCT that has involved a community-policy level, 
or that has used churches to drive change at that policy level. This project will (1) examine the effectiveness 
of a community-designed, community-based, multilevel physical activity and diet intervention (the Church 
Challenge) relative to enhanced treatment as usual among 770 people in 30 ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9877972
- **Project number:** 5U54MD011227-05
- **Recipient organization:** MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Vicki Johnson-Lawrence
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $270,067
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → 2023-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9877972

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9877972, Project 1:  Physical Health - Public Health Approaches to Prevent and Reduce Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease:  The "Church Challenge" to Create Healthier Communities (5U54MD011227-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9877972. Licensed CC0.

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