Analysis Grid for Environments Linked to Obesity (ANGELO) framework to develop community-driven health programmes in an Indigenous community in Canada Noreen Willows PhD 1 , David Dyck Fehderau MA 1 and Kim D. Raine PhD RD 2 1 Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and 2 School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Accepted for publication 10 February 2015 Correspondence Noreen Willows Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences 4-378 Edmonton Clinic Health Academy Mailbox #54, 11405 87 Avenue Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2P5 E-mail: noreen.willows@ualberta.ca What is known about this topic • Health strategies that include solutions developed by community members are more likely to succeed. • There is little guidance in the literature on how to engage community members in developing community-specific solutions targeting childhood obesity. What this paper adds • The Analysis Grid for Environments Linked to Obesity framework is an action-based workshop that assists Indigenous community members to develop community-driven priorities to prevent childhood obesity. • First Nations people seeking to address childhood obesity may choose to focus on strengthening the connection of children and families to their indigenous culture and traditions. • Engaging communities in identifying and planning solutions to health problems raises ethical issues when resources are unavailable for their implementation. Abstract Indigenous First Nations people in Canada have high chronic disease morbidity resulting in part from enduring social inequities and colonialism. Obesity prevention strategies developed by and for First Nations people are crucial to improving the health status of this group. The research objective was to develop community-relevant strategies to address childhood obesity in a First Nations community. Strategies were derived from an action-based workshop based on the Analysis Grid for Environments Linked to Obesity (ANGELO) framework. Thirteen community members with wide-ranging community representation took part in the workshop. They combined personal knowledge and experience with community-specific and national research to dissect the broad array of environmental factors that influenced childhood obesity in their community. They then developed community-specific action plans focusing on healthy eating and physical activity for children and their families. Actions included increasing awareness of children’s health issues among the local population and community leadership, promoting nutrition and physical activity at school, and improving recreation opportunities. Strengthening children’s connection to their culture was considered paramount to improving their well-being; thus, workshop participants developed programmes that included elders as teachers and reinforced families’ acquaintance with First Nations foods and activities. The research demonstrated that the ANGELO framework is a participatory way to develop community-driven health programmes. It also demonstrated that First Nations people involved in the creation of solutions to health issues in their communities may focus on decolonising approaches such as strengthening their connection to indigenous culture and traditions. External funds were not available to implement programmes and there was no formal follow-up to determine if community members implemented programmes. Future research needs to examine the extent to which community members can implement programmes on their own and whether community action plans, when implemented, lead to short- and long-term benefits in health outcomes. Keywords: child health, chronic disease prevention, community-based participatory research, health promotion, North American Indians, obesity © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd 1 Health and Social Care in the Community (2015) doi: 10.1111/hsc.12229