Otho S.A. Sprague Memorial Institute awards Rush $230,000 for childhood obesity prevention

The pilot program will run February 2008 through July 2009. The project team will enroll patients from pediatric and adolescent practices at Rush with an economically, racially, ethnically and religiously diverse population of families. The project aims to enroll at least 40 to 50 families, with staff tracking the progress of each patient and family for 12 months. The team from Rush will include pediatricians, nurses, nutrition and fitness specialists, social workers and other specialists whose talents may help each enrolled child and family better address their concerns and achieve a healthier lifestyle.

The Otho S.A. Sprague Memorial Institute was founded in 1911 by a leading Chicago businessman as a nonprofit foundation with a mandate to pursue the investigation of the cause of disease and the prevention and relief of human suffering in Chicago. Today, this philanthropy is managed by a board of volunteers dedicated to carrying out this goal. For eight years, The Institute has created and funded innovative programs to address and reverse the obesity epidemic. The hallmark of this effort is CLOCC, the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children, which now has more than 1,300 participants and is considered a national model. This new grant to Rush’s program provides a significant complement to that effort and its clinical practices research.

Support of this childhood obesity reduction project and another grant of nearly $125,000 for an important patient-safety initiative at Rush are but two examples of the ways The Otho S.A. Sprague Memorial Institute continues to carry out its philanthropic mission.

“As a Chicago-based philanthropy, The Institute has focused on enabling promising local health and wellness initiatives to develop and replicate. Over the years, Rush and its predecessors have consistently used our grants to achieve our shared vision. We are confident these grants will continue this pattern of significant outcomes that promote health, improve care, and reduce costs through innovation” said James N. Alexander, The Institute’s Executive Director.