BUILDING THE MOVEMENT TO REVERSE OBESITY IN SOUTH CAROLINA

Carole Garner MPH, RD,LD

Team Leader Engagement and Coordination,Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity

April 14, 2010

Groundwork

STATE OF ARKANSAS

The Impact of Obesity:Economics, Health, Prevention & Treatment

2000

Presented byObesity Task Force

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity

Leadership provided by the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement

in strategic partnership with PolicyLink

Goals of the RWJF Center

• Reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children in the U.S.

• Decrease disparities in childhood obesity– Communities of color– Impoverished areas– Disproportionately affected regions

• Create systemic, sustainable changes

RWJF Strategies/Programs

ADVOCACY

EVIDENCE

ACTION

Food Marketing & Youth Project (Yale Univ Rudd Ctr)

Healthy Eating Research

Salud America!

Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities

Healthy Schools Program (Alliance for a Healthier Generation)

New Jersey Partnership for Healthy Kids

Safe Routes to School National Partnership: State Network Project

Pioneering Healthier Communities: YMCA of the USA

Active Living Research

African American Collaborative Obesity Research Network (AACORN)

Bridging the Gap

Communities Creating Healthy Environments

Faith-Based Advocacy: Galvanizing Communities to End Childhood Obesity

Leadership for Healthy Communities

Mobilizing Health Care Professionals as Community Leaders in the Fight Against Childhood Obesity

National Policy and Legal Analysis Network to Prevent Childhood Obesity

Campaign for Healthy Kids (Save the Children)

RWJF Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity

Energy Balance Framework of the RWJF Center

• Increasing children’s consumption of healthy foods and beverages and decreasing consumption of unhealthy alternatives

• Increasing physical activity

• Building awareness and support

Factors Linked to Creating Energy Imbalance

• Food Environment

• Built Environment– Transportation– Parks– Safety

• Education and the School Setting

• Health Care

Policy Priorities for Energy Balance

• Federal

• State

• Local

Federal Policy Opportunities

• Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization

Federal Policy Opportunities

• K–12 Education

Federal Policy Opportunities

• Transportation

Federal Policy Opportunities

• Federal Trade Commission and Food Marketing

Federal Policy Opportunities

• Health Care• Other Opportunities

State and Local Opportunities

• Institute of Medicine– Local Government Actions to Prevent Childhood

Obesity– 58 action steps / 12 prioritized strategies

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention– Recommended Community Strategies and

Measurements to Prevent Obesity (7/09)– 24 Recommendations and assessments

• Leadership for Healthy Communities– Action Strategies Toolkit for local policy-makers (5/09)– 31 policy options and resources

HIGHLIGHTS OF KEY LOCAL STRATEGIES TO ADDRESS CHILDHOOD OBESITY

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• http://www.reversechildhoodobesity.org/webfm_send/115

IOM & CDC Recommended Strategies

Healthy Eating• Incentives to attract supermarkets in

underserved neighborhoods• Discourage consumption of sugar-

sweetened beverages and improve access to fresh drinking water

• Improve access to healthy foods from farms

IOM & CDC Recommended Strategies

• Improve and increase availability of affordable healthier food and beverage choices in public service venues including public schools

• Menu labeling

IOM & CDC Recommended Strategies

Physical Activity• Joint use agreements• Increase opportunities for physical activity

in preschool, school, afterschool and child-care programs

• Improve safety and security of streets and park use, especially in higher-crime neighborhoods

IOM & CDC Recommended Strategies

• Develop safe and secure walking environments including safe routes to schools

Social Marketing• Media campaigns to promote healthy

eating and active living

Resources

Communities Putting Prevention to Work: MAPPS Products

25

26

Location of Alliance for a Healthier Generation Healthy Schools Program by Type of Site and Location of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Funded Grantees

“Juntas Podemos [Together We Can]: Empowering Latinas To Shape Policy To Prevent Childhood Obesity”

• Juntas Podemos - researchers, community leaders and Latino families – Effective policy recommendations regarding physical activity in

Latino children from West Columbia– Use Photovoice to collect data from Latina mothers and

community stakeholders, document and analyze the issues. Interviews and focus groups from the community and local schools to document their perspective

– Develop recommendations regarding physical activity among children and disseminated to policy-makers at many different levels.

• Dr. Myriam E. Torres, University of South Carolina Research Foundation

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Greenville

• Activate Greenville, a partnership anchored by the YMCA, will focus on school-related initiatives.– Safe Routes to School – Healthy snack program

• And on neighborhood-based initiatives.– trails and green spaces for physical activity

• In three communities: Berea, Nicholtown and Sterling.

• Eleanor Dunlap, Director

Spartanburg County

• Advocate “connectivity” to parks and healthy food outlets in four at-risk communities: the city’s predominantly African-American northwest neighborhoods, where nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price school lunch programs, and the majority-White rural communities of Boiling Springs, Pacolet and Woodruff

• Initiatives such as farmers-markets; Hub Cycle, bicycle lending program expansion; initiating Safe Routes to School; formation of a Food Policy Council

• Laura Ringo, Director

Campaign for Healthy Kids

• Farm to School Act in partnership with Eat Smart, Move More SC

• March Advocacy Day

New Opportunities

• National Association of County & City Health Officials

• National Association of State Boards of Education

• National Conference of State Legislatures

Potential Partners

• National Association for the Education of Young Children

• National Community Development Association

• American Planning Association• Points of Light Institute Youth

HandsOn Network

South Carolina Programs & Projects

• Eat Smart, Move More… SC• Walterboro farmer's market• Color Me Healthy• South Carolina Institute for Childhood

Obesity and Related Disorders• Coordinated School Health• Legislation

– Students Health and Fitness Act of 2005– Act 269 of 2006 protects a woman's right to

breastfeed in public– Bicycle Safety

Conclusion

• Reversing the epidemic

• Targeting those most at risk – Low-income, rural, children

of color• Building a legacy of

healthy communities

Contact information

www.reversechildhoodobesity.orgcarole@reversechildhoodobesity.org