The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded a $4.35 million grant to the Prevention Research Center (PRC) at the Arnold School of Public Health. Established through funding by the CDC in 1993, the center has been funded continuously since that time. The new award will enable Dr. Sara Wilcox, a professor in the department of exercise science, and her colleagues to implement and disseminate a faith-based program, called Faith, Activity and Nutrition (FAN). Designed to increase physical activity and encourage healthy eating in South Carolina, the program will have an emphasis on rural and underserved populations.

“Churches are natural sites for health promotion because they serve people from all walks of life, including those who live in rural and underserved communities that regularly experience high levels of obesity, heart disease, and other health risk factors,” said Dr. Wilcox, director of the PRC.

Dr. Wilcox, in partnership with several SC universities and the AME church, developed the FAN program with funding from a National Institutes of Health grant in 2006. The new CDC funding will allow Dr. Wilcox, working with collaborators at the University of South Carolina, Clemson University, Fairfield Behavioral Health Services, the State Baptist Young Woman’s Auxiliary Health Ministry, and the SC Conference of the United Methodist Church, to implement and evaluate the program in South Carolina churches. The grant also will involve working with DHEC as well as other community groups in the areas of physical activity and healthy eating.

To read more, visit http://sph.sc.edu/news/Wilcox-PRCnewgrant.html.