Signs of Progress in Reversing Childhood Obesity Trends
Obesity – one of the many health factors measured in the County Health Rankings – continues to harm the health of communities throughout the country. What is equally alarming is the number of young children who are overweight or obese.
On July 9, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the American Heart Association (AHA) hosted Signs of Progress Toward Reversing the Childhood Obesity Epidemic to highlight and learn from states, cities, and communities that have successfully made changes to reduce their rates of childhood obesity. The communities seeing declines spanned across the country and include New Mexico, California, West Virginia, Mississippi, eastern Massachusetts, Granville and Vance Counties North Carolina, Philadelphia, Anchorage, Alaska, New York City, and Kearney, Nebraska.
While these communities have made important progress, there is still much to be done. According to Dr. Risa Lavisso-Mourey, RWJF president and CEO, “a handful of successes will not get us there – these successes need to reach every city, state, and community.”
The AHA and RWJF have joined forces to create the national advocacy initiative Voices for Healthy Kids to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic by 2015. During the event, six teams that will lead advocacy campaigns to improve the health of communities and reduce childhood obesity were also announced.
