Understanding Weight Change while Incarcerated: Qualitative Groundwork for a Collaborative Health Intervention

Addressing obesity behind bars has increasingly attracted attention from public health researchers and correctional administrators, while still remaining an often elusive goal. Certainly, obesity prevention in any current context has proven challenging In some ways, addressing obesity within the correctional setting offers opportunities, for example, the benefit of the "captive audience" who may not otherwise access healthcare Finally, the burgeoning costs of managing chronic conditions associated with obesity in the incarcerated setting further engage otherwise unlikely partners for public health interventions For example, the expense of diabetes-related health care has been estimated at $25,675 per inmate annually