Healthy behaviors: addressing chronic disease at its roots.

iii behavior change — whether the ultimate goal is to reduce risks for cardiovascular disease, prevent cancer, avert the disability and illness associated with overweight and obesity, or achieve other health and wellness goals. This Issue Brief does not discuss media approaches and social marketing techniques that can be used to educate people about behaviors that place their health at risk and motivate them to change their behavior. That topic will be covered in an Issue Dialogue to be held in spring 2004; an associated Issue Brief will be published in fall 2004. GIH acknowledges all those who participated in the Issue Dialogue, with special thanks to the presenters: president and CEO of GIH, moderated the session. Donna Langill, program associate at GIH, planned the program, wrote the background paper, and edited the Issue Brief. Lise Rybowski of The Severyn Group, Inc., synthesized the material presented at the Issue Dialogue with the background paper prepared for the meeting. Other contributors to the On November 5, 2003, Grantmakers In Health (GIH) convened an Issue Dialogue to explore what grantmakers can do to help people adopt and sustain healthy behaviors that can reduce the risks of chronic disease. Using the lens of tobacco prevention and cessation, physical activity, and healthy eating, the meeting explored the challenges associated with changing behavior and sustaining those changes over time. It called attention to the importance of designing comprehensive and sustained interventions that support long-term behavior change and highlighted exemplary grantmaking strategies aimed at promoting healthy behaviors among children, youth, and adults. This Issue Brief incorporates the information and ideas shared at the meeting with a background paper that was prepared for participants at the Issue Dialogue. It begins by defining chronic disease and laying out the burden of chronic disease in the United States. Subsequent sections: • explore the contribution of specific behaviors to the development of chronic diseases; • provide a framework for designing effective interventions; • review lessons from research on tobacco control; • describe current efforts to promote healthy behaviors and prevent chronic disease; and • identify strategies that health grantmakers can use to help people make the journey from knowledge to action to long-term Grantmakers In Health (GIH) is a nonprofit, educational organization dedicated to helping foundations and corporate giving programs improve the nation's health. Its mission is to foster communication and collaboration among grantmakers and others and to help strengthen …