Established in 2006, the Northern Michigan Diabetes Initiative (NMDI) is a 12-county rural regional collaborative led by Munson Medical Center in partnership with the entire Munson Healthcare system of eight hospitals, Priority Health, four health departments, the Michigan Department of Community Health, Michigan State University Extension, numerous physicians, diabetes educators and dozens of other community service agencies committed to providing local, regional, and national resources for the prevention and management of diabetes.

In 2008, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified low-income preschool obesity rates in Northern Michigan as some of the highest in the country. The Northern Michigan Diabetes Initiative partnered with the Traverse City Area Public Schools, School Readiness Outreach Program, regional Head Start and day care centers to offer the Healthy Family Backpack Program. Incorporating the national 5-2-1-0 campaign message, children take home a backpack containing a healthy message children’s book and a folder with nutrition education, easy healthy recipes, and portion control information. Families are asked to set a healthy goal, which is evaluated two months later.

The Northern Michigan Diabetes Initiative is a regional collaboration dedicated to prevention, early detection, and management of diabetes. The Healthy Family Backpack Program connects with youth and their parents to educate participants on proper nutrition and promote healthy lifestyles to reduce childhood obesity.

The Northern Michigan Diabetes Initiative has distributed nutritional education materials to over 300 families. Of ninety-two families that set a healthy goal at the start of the program, forty-five continued to maintain that goal at the two-month mark.

Since 2010, over 300 families received a backpack as part of the program through more than 20 sites. Ninety-two families set a healthy goal, and after two months forty-five families continued to maintain that goal. Almost everyone who completed an evaluation of the backpack materials gave positive comments.