Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
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, Leadership for Healthy Communities is a $10-million national program of the
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is an American philanthropic organization. It is the largest one focused solely on health. Based in Princeton, New Jersey, the foundation focuses on access to health care, public health, health equity, ...
designed to engage and support local and state government leaders nationwide in their efforts to advance
public policies
Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...
that support healthier communities and prevent childhood obesity. The program places an emphasis on policies with the greatest potential for increasing sustainable opportunities for physical activity and healthy eating among children at highest risk for obesity, including
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...
,
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...
children living in lower-income communities. The foundation's primary goal is the reversal of the childhood obesity epidemic by 2015.
The program awards grants to influential policy-maker organizations that provide technical assistance to state and local policy-makers who are poised to prevent childhood obesity through public policy levers. Current grantees of the national program include the American Association of School Administrators,
International City/County Management Association
International City/County Management Association (ICMA; originally called the International City Managers' Association) is an association representing professionals in local government management. It is based in Washington, D.C.
)
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National Conference of State Legislatures
The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), established in 1975, is a "nonpartisan public officials’ association composed of sitting state legislators" from the states, territories and commonwealths of the United States.
Background ...
,
National League of Cities
The National League of Cities (NLC) is an advocacy organization in the United States that represents the country's 19,495 cities, towns, and villages along with 49 state municipal leagues. Created in 1924, it has evolved into a leading membership ...
,
National School Boards Association
The National School Boards Association (NSBA) is a nonprofit educational organization operating as a federation of state associations of school boards across the United States. Founded in 1940, NSBA represents state school boards associations an ...
Congressional Black Caucus Foundation
The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) is an American educational foundation. It conducts research on issues affecting African Americans, publishes a yearly report on key legislation, and sponsors issue forums, leadership seminars and ...
and the
National Congress of American Indians
The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is an American Indian and Alaska Native rights organization. It was founded in 1944 to represent the tribes and resist federal government pressure for termination of tribal rights and assimilati ...
to address childhood obesity in the African-American and American Indian and Alaska Native communities.
Philosophy
Leadership for Healthy Communities believes that policy action can help expand opportunities for physical activity and access to healthy foods in schools and communities. The guiding principle of this program is that initiatives led by policy-makers and community leaders at all levels play an important role in supporting healthy children. By highlighting policies and programs that can impact the health of children in schools and communities, Leadership for Healthy Communities and grantees of the program encourage policy-makers to collaborate to reverse the childhood obesity
epidemic
An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time.
Epidemics of infectious ...
and create healthier environments.
Leadership
Since 2007, the Leadership for Healthy Communities national program has been led by Dr.
Maya Rockeymoore Cummings
Maya Michelle Rockeymoore Cummings (born January 31, 1971) is an American consultant, politician, and former chair of the Maryland Democratic Party in the United States. Before her election as party chair, she briefly ran for Governor of Maryla ...
. She is the CEO of the
Washington, DC
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...
-based social-change policy firm, Global Policy Solutions.
History
Previously known as Leadership for Active Living and then Active Living Leadership, the Leadership for Healthy Communities national program started in 2002 and was originally managed at
San Diego State University
San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...
. Initial support during 2002-2003 focused on five states: California, Colorado, Kentucky, Michigan and Washington. At that time, the program was primarily a partnership effort among the International City/County Management Association, the National Association of Counties, the Local Government Commission, the National Conference of State Legislatures, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, and the United States Conference of Mayors.
The childhood obesity epidemic
Over the past four decades, obesity rates have increased rapidly among all age groups. Today, nearly one third of children and adolescents in the United States are either overweight or obese. According to a national poll, parents now rank childhood obesity as the number one potential threat to their children's health—topping drugs, alcohol and tobacco use.
Other studies have found that obese children and adolescents are much more likely to become obese adults. In fact, an obese 4-year-old has a 20 percent chance of becoming an obese adult, and an obese older teenager has up to an 80 percent chance of becoming an obese adult. In addition, obese children and adolescents are often targets of social discrimination and at greater risk for a host of other serious illnesses, including heart disease,
asthma
Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, co ...
and
type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes, formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is a form of diabetes mellitus that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. Common symptoms include increased thirst, frequent urinatio ...
. As more children become obese, type 2 diabetes—a disease that was once called "adult-onset diabetes" and can lead to blindness, loss of feeling and circulation in the extremities, amputations and death—is found in younger and younger age groups.
The financial consequences also are significant—obesity costs the United States $117 billion each year in direct medical expenses and indirect costs, such as lost productivity.
The medical costs of obesity outweighs the cost of eating healthy, maintaining physical activity, and educating the population for this increasing problem occurring in today's' society.
Environmental factors that influence childhood obesity
Research has found that many children do not have regular opportunities to be physically active or access to healthy foods. Moreover, the environmental barriers to healthy behaviors are even larger in lower-income areas. Lower-income communities are significantly less likely to have places where people can be physically active, such as parks, green spaces, and bicycle paths and lanes. And although easy access to supermarkets that offer fresh fruits and vegetables is associated with lower body mass index, many neighborhoods in racial and ethnic minority, lower-income and rural areas tend to have more fast-food restaurants and convenience stores and fewer grocery stores than predominantly white, higher-income areas. Consequently, although obesity affects people of all demographics, the prevalence rates are more alarming for racial and ethnic minorities, lower-income families and people in the Southeast region of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
(seven of the states with the highest poverty rates are also in the top 10 states with the highest obesity rates).
Other important factors that researchers say have contributed to the childhood obesity epidemic are fewer hours of physical activity and an increase of junk foods in schools. Fewer than 4 percent of elementary schools provide the weekly recommended 150 minutes of physical education to all students for the full school year. At the same time, while most schools that sell à la carte and snack foods offer some nutritious food and beverage options, less nutritious alternatives also are common. For example, in one study, 70 percent of the beverage options available in vending machines were high in sugar, only 12 percent of the beverage slots were for water, and only 5 percent were for milk.18. Dispensing Junk: How School Vending Undermines Efforts to Feed Children Well. Washington: Center for Science in the Public Interest, 2004. Available at www.cspinet.org/new/pdf/dispensing_junk.pdf.
Leadership for Healthy Communities Action Strategies Toolkit
The national program office and its grantees have publish a variety of fact sheets, policy briefs, reports, tools and other documents and databases dealing with childhood obesity issues, model policies and
health disparities
Health equity arises from access to the social determinants of health, specifically from wealth, power and prestige. Individuals who have consistently been deprived of these three determinants are significantly disadvantaged from health inequiti ...
among vulnerable populations. The Leadership for Healthy Communities Action Strategies Toolkit was released during Leadership for Healthy Communities' 2009 Childhood Obesity Prevention Summit in Washington, D.C. The toolkit is a collection of policy options and resources designed to help state and local policy-makers prevent childhood obesity by developing healthier environments. The strategies within the toolkit—which focus on increasing opportunities for physical activity and access to healthy foods in schools and communities—have been identified, evaluated and selected by Leadership for Healthy Communities and 11 participating policy-maker organizations representing state, local and school district decision-makers.