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RWJF continues to go large on childhood obesity

 

 

http://www.rwjf.org/en/about-rwjf/newsroom/newsroom-content/2015/02/rwjf_doubles_commitment_to_healthy_weight_for_children.html

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Doubles Its Commitment to Helping All Children Grow Up at a Healthy Weight

RWJF dedicates a total of $1 billion since 2007 to ensuring that all children have access to healthier foods and opportunities to be physically active.

February 5, 2015

Princeton, N.J.―Recognizing that obesity remains one of the biggest threats to the health of our children, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) today announced it will commit $500 million over the next ten years to expand efforts to ensure that all children in the United States—no matter who they are or where they live―can grow up at a healthy weight. Building on a $500 million commitment made in 2007, the nation’s largest health philanthropy will have dedicated more than $1 billion to reversing the childhood obesity epidemic. Encouraged by recent signs of progress in turning rates around, RWJF views this investment as critical to building a Culture of Health in communities across the United States.

With this new $500 million pledge, RWJF signals its commitment to expand and accelerate that progress, with an intensified focus on those places and populations hardest hit by the epidemic. New work will advance strategies that help eliminate health disparities that contribute to higher obesity rates among children of color and children living in poverty across the United States. The Foundation also announced an expanded focus on preventing obesity in early childhood and on engaging parents, youth and health care providers to be active champions for healthier communities and schools.

Over the last decade, RWJF has been a leader in supporting nationwide efforts to change policies and school and community environments in ways that make the healthy choice the easy choice for children and families. Working in partnership with other funders and leaders in a variety of sectors, key initiatives enabled schools nationwide to transform their campuses into healthier places for kids and helped communities expand access to nutritious foods and safe places to be active. States and cities ranging from California to Mississippi, and New York City to Anchorage, Alaska, have begun reporting declining childhood obesity rates.

“By 2025, we want to ensure that children in America grow up at a healthy weight, no matter who they are or where they live,” said RWJF President and CEO Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, MD. “We have made substantial progress, but there is far more to do and we can’t stop now. This commitment is part of the Foundation’s effort to build a Culture of Health in every community across the country. We all have a role to play in our homes, schools, and neighborhoods to ensure that all kids have healthy food and safe places to play.”

Building on work the Foundation has implemented previously, RWJF will support research, action and advocacy strategies focused on the following priorities over the next decade:

  • Ensure that all children enter kindergarten at a healthy weight.
  • Make a healthy school environment the norm and not the exception across the United States.
  • Make physical activity a part of the everyday experience for children and youth.
  • Make healthy foods and beverages the affordable, available, and desired choice in all neighborhoods and communities.
  • Eliminate the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages among 0-5 year olds.

This new $500 million commitment represents a major investment in the Foundation’s broader effort to build a nationwide Culture of Health that enables all in our diverse society to lead healthier lives, now and for generations to come. Integral to building a strong Culture of Health is helping all children achieve and maintain a healthy weight to give them the strongest start toward a healthy future. This will require greater collaboration among businesses, government, individuals, and organizations to create communities that offer ample opportunities for parents and kids to make choices that help them live the healthiest lives possible.

RWJF’s new commitment follows a series of research reports showing progress toward reversing the childhood obesity epidemic. On a national level, childhood obesity rates have begun to level off, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC also released data last year showing rates may be decreasing among the nation’s youngest children. In addition, states from California to Mississippi and cities from Anchorage to Philadelphia have reported reductions in childhood obesity rates.

But these initial reports of declines follow decades of increases. Despite the recent positive news, more than one third of young people are overweight or obese—a rate far higher than it was a generation ago. African-American and Latino youth continue to have higher obesity rates than their white peers, even in most areas reporting overall progress. Among the cities and states reporting good news on obesity, only Philadelphia has measured progress toward narrowing disparity gaps. In that city, childhood obesity rates have declined overall, and the steepest drops have been among African-American boys and Latino girls, two groups with historically high obesity rates.

“The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is in this fight for the long haul to ensure that all kids grow up at a healthy weight,” said Roger S. Fine, JD, chairman of the RWJF Board of Trustees. “With this new commitment, we look forward to working with existing and new allies to realize a future in which every child can live a long, healthy life.”

Since its 2007 commitment, RWJF has funded numerous efforts to help young people eat healthier foods and be more active. It helped the Healthy Schools Program of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation grow from supporting 231 schools in 2006 to now more than 26,000 schools that are transforming their campuses into healthier places where healthy foods and physical activity are available before, during and after school. It created Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities, a national program supporting community change efforts that made healthy eating and active living the easy choice in 50 sites across the country and served as a model for later federal funding. The Foundation also has funded independent evaluations of significant commitments by the food and beverage industry, which demonstrated progress by major companies to cut 6.4 trillion calories from the marketplace.

In addition to work by RWJF and its grantees, the last several years have seen a building national movement to address childhood obesity. First Lady Michelle Obama has made a significant commitment to solving the challenge of childhood obesity through her Let’s Move! initiative. Congress passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act with a bipartisan vote in 2010, paving the way for the first significant update to school nutrition standards in 15 years and laying the groundwork for broader policy changes. Food, beverage, and fitness industry leaders, as well as many others, have made changes to their products and practices in order to better support children’s health. As progress continues and expands, sustained action across sectors will be essential to creating a healthier future for children.

ABOUT THE ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION

For more than 40 years the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has worked to improve health and health care. We are striving to build a national Culture of Health that will enable all to live longer, healthier lives now and for generations to come. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org. Follow the Foundation on Twitter at www.rwjf.org/twitter or on Facebook at www.rwjf.org/facebook.

http://www.rwjf.org/en/blogs/culture-of-health/2015/02/we_must_all_playar.html

We Must All Play a Role in Ending Childhood Obesity

Feb 5, 2015, 1:00 PM, Posted by Sen. Bill Frist, MD

A mother walking with her daughters on sidewalk
We all want our kids and grandkids to grow up happier and healthier than we did. Instead, today’s children are the first generation of young Americans to face the prospect of living their entire lives in poorer health and dying younger than previous generations.The reason is no mystery. Too many of our children – one in three, according to studies – are overweight. We are allowing, and in some ways encouraging, our kids to consume more calories, more sugar, more fat, more sodium. At the same time we’re enabling a more sedentary lifestyle. Running, jumping, skipping, dancing, biking – today’s children simply don’t move as much as they once did, making it that much harder to keep off the pounds.The childhood obesity epidemic is having a devastating affect on too many families. Obese and overweight children are sick more often. They too often endure prejudice and bullying at school, leaving them embarrassed and depressed. They miss more school. When they grow up, they have more difficulty leading productive work lives. And they are more likely to suffer from chronic illnesses directly linked to obesity, such as diabetes and heart disease.

William FristSen. Bill Frist, MD
All of society pays a stiff price for childhood obesity. Twenty percent of the United States’ total expenditures on health care can be linked to conditions associated with obesity. Obesity costs our society more than smoking or drinking.But there is reason for hope. Parents, educators, business leaders, government officials, health care professionals, and nonprofits have launched remarkable initiatives to end this epidemic. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has been a leader in these efforts, ever since its dramatic $500 million initiative in 2007 to reverse trends in childhood obesity. And there are signs that we are already creating a brighter future for our children.In the last two years the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have reported small but significant downward trends in the percentage of preschool-aged children who are obese. Those kids are less likely to be obese when they are in middle school, high school, and beyond.

How did we begin to alter a movement that once seemed impossible to stop? I like to think of it as a good old-fashioned American mix of families, educators, policy makers and businesses pulling together to bring about change. Parents are getting out and doing things with their kids – hiking, jogging, cycling, swimming, throwing a ball or Frisbee around – and both parents and kids find themselves feeling better. Schools are offering healthy lunch choices, and making good food, including breakfast, available for students who might otherwise be able to afford only junk food, or no food at all. Cities and states are requiring fast-food outlets to post nutrition information. Large retail chains are building fresh-food grocery stores that represent oases of healthy nutrition in “food deserts.” Hospitals and clinics are emphasizing preventive care programs. Foundations such as RWJF, with its efforts to build a Culture of Health, are promoting innovative pilot programs and partnerships. All these efforts, taken together, are truly making a difference.

But there’s no question that we have a long way to go. We can all do more, and we must do more, both individually, through our organizations, and in partnership with others. That’s why RWJF is pledging another $500 million over the next ten years to expand efforts to ensure that all children in the United States―no matter who they are or where they live―can grow up at a healthy weight.

What can you do? Take a kid bowling, or for a hike. Suggest alternatives to fried foods at the next covered-dish supper held at your church. Write your elected representatives expressing your support for programs to fight childhood obesity. Present a petition to the school board asking that physical education be reinstated or expanded, and that unhealthy snacks and drinks be removed. Ask the city council to ensure that all kids and families have access to safe parks and playgrounds. Donate money or volunteer your time to programs fighting childhood obesity. Buy and serve healthy foods for yourself and your family, and do your best to let everyone in the food chain know – from the local grocery manager to the big brand-name food companies to the farmer at the local greenmarket – that you want healthy, fresh food.

It’s been shown time and again, all across the country: If we make healthy food and exercise options easy and affordable, those are the choices that most families will make for their children. Please do your part to help America’s kids. Here at the Foundation, we’ll be supporting you all the way.

Bill Frist, a heart surgeon, is a former U. S. senator (R-Tenn) who has long been involved in promoting good health across America. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Working in partnership with other funders and leaders in a variety of sectors, key initiatives enabled schools nationwide to transform their campuses into healthier places for kids and helped communities expand access to nutritious foods and safe places to be active. States and cities ranging from California to Mississippi, and New York City to Anchorage, Alaska, have begun reporting declining childhood obesity rates