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Churches. Synagogues. Mosques. These and other houses of worship are present just about everywhere in the US. More than just sacred places, they are often powerful forces for change in their communities, and the role these religious congregations play in local communities can make them ideal allies for healthcare professionals working to reverse the  trend of childhood obesity .

Faith communities have long been a part of movements  for social change, and their leaders are often well-respected members of the community. Most religions are founded on doctrines that emphasize not only caring for the spirit, but also caring for the body. Faith communities serve whole families with programs for both adults and children. And, perhaps most importantly for those working to combat childhood obesity, these houses of worship are often located in the heart of the neighborhoods where their members live and work.

The above characteristics make faith communities excellent partners, and venues, for obesity outreach efforts. Many are already involved as individual institutions or as groups:

• Solid Rock United Methodist Church in Philadelphia provides people in the neighborhood with a safe place for indoor exercise, line dancing, basketball, and an obesity program for children.
• The Seventh Day Adventist denomination as a whole focuses on healthy living and offers a comprehensive website of health resources.
• Jewish Community Centers (JCC’s) are involved in JCC Grows, a healthy food and hunger-relief program with an emphasis on community gardens.
• On the south side of Chicago, a Muslim community is leading the Campaign for Health, Wellness, and Healing, which focuses on food justice, health education, and an alternative business model for corner stores. 
• Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon offers food policy resources for faith communities, and helps to link them with local farms.

Healthcare professionals interested in advocating for childhood obesity policy changes can engage with faith communities in many ways. While creativity is vital to meet local needs, useful resources are already available. Below are sample resources for use and adaptation: 
 

• The State and County Obesity Factsheets produced by Be Our Voice, which include information on county health rankings and obesity statistics, can be used to start a dialogue within a congregation about obesity issues.
• The Michigan Steps Up! Faith-Based Group created a Spirit, Mind & Body: Eat Well, Live Well Event Planning Guide  that can be used and adapted to ensure that healthy food options are always available at faith-based events. 
• The San Diego County Childhood Obesity Initiative offers resources for faith communities such as policy templates.
• The Let’s Move! Faith and Communities Toolkit has resources and guidance for faith and community-based organizations.

Healthcare professionals and faith communities can make excellent partners and collaborate on education, advocacy, outreach, and policy to improve child health and reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity.

Last week, the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity at Yale University released a new report entitled Fast Food F.A.C.T.S. (Food Advertising to Children and Teens Score). The Center found that children as young as 2 are seeing more fast-food ads than ever before, and that restaurants provide largely unhealthy side dishes and drinks as the default options that come with kids’ meals. The new report is the most comprehensive study of fast food nutrition and marketing ever undertaken.

Researchers examined the marketing efforts of 12 of the nation’s largest fast-food chains. Additional data included the calories, fat, sugar and sodium in more than 3,000 kids’ meal combinations and 2,781 menu items. Perhaps the most disturbing finding, indicative of the disheartening nature of the overall report, is that “out of 3,039 possible kids’ meal combinations, only 12 meet the researchers’ nutrition criteria for preschoolers” and “only 15 meet nutrition criteria for older children.” That breaks down to only 0.39% and 0.49% of kids’ meal combinations for each respective age group. 

Any healthcare professional could tell that the fast food climate being pushed in today’s market was unhealthy for our children. But the Rudd Center’s report shows just how detrimental fast food and marketing is—and it’s far beyond anything people expected.

However, hope is not lost. In the words of RWJ President and CEO Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, “Parents should demand the healthy items in kids’ meals—like apple slices and low-fat milk—and they should let fast-food companies know they don’t want them using games, toys and popular characters to lure their children toward unhealthy habits. In the words of one fast-food slogan, let the fast food companies know that you want to ‘have it your way.’”  The report authors also offer practical recommendations for transforming the restaurant and marketing landscapes. The Rudd Center’s findings may be alarming, but hopefully this report will serve as a call to action for both the healthcare and fast food industries alike.

Fast Food FACTS (full report): http://www.rwjf.org/files/research/20101108fffactsreport.pdf

Fast Food FACTS (summary): http://www.rwjf.org/files/research/20101108fastfoodfactsbrochure.pdf

A Statement by Risa Lavizzo-Mourey on Fast Food FACTS: http://www.rwjf.org/pr/product.jsp?id=71424&topicid=1024

On September 14, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced $31 million for awards to ten communities in eight states and one award to a state health department to support public health efforts to reduce obesity and smoking, increase physical activity and improve nutrition.

The awards were funded by the Prevention and Public Health Fund included in the Affordable Care Act. They are also part of the HHS Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) program, which is a comprehensive prevention and wellness initiative administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of the 9 awards given, 7 were designated for obesity prevention efforts.

The announcement of the award is a powerful event in celebration of National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. The CPPW program is an example of a national initiative with a local focus, much like Be Our Voice. Such programs are vital to the fight against the obesity epidemic. National policies and programs must be complemented by change and implementation at the local level if we are to reverse the trend of childhood obesity within a generation.

To view a detailed listing of grant awardees, visit: http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/recovery/community-awards.htm

NICHQ Awarded $5 Million by HRSA to Lead Nationwide Quality Improvement Program to Help Address Obesity in Children and Families

Part of Nearly $100 Million Granted by HHS for Key Public Health and Prevention Priorities through the Affordable Care Act

Boston, MA, September 24, 2010 — The National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality (NICHQ) announced today it has been awarded a $5 million grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services to help address the obesity epidemic. NICHQ will lead a consortium of organizations to establish a national Prevention Center for Healthy Weight for the Health Services and Resources Administration.  This Center will guide and support the activities of teams from at least 50 communities across the nation to better prevent and treat obesity.

Obesity constitutes a grave threat to the health and well-being of our nation.  Obesity rates have risen dramatically over the past decades with particularly strong impact on diverse and disadvantaged communities. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United States has the highest rate of obesity among all developed nations. Three in four Americans will become overweight or obese by 2020, unless industry, the public and the government work together to address the issue.

NICHQ’s program will establish the collaborations recommended by the OECD – partnerships between health care, public health and community-based organizations. These partnerships should lead to changes in the community environment and individual health behaviors to promote healthy weight and health equity. The program will focus on children and families from across the nation, with an emphasis on communities at higher risk.

NICHQ will lead the program in collaboration with the following expert partners: the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs , CSI Solutions, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement , Let’s Go!: Maine Medical Center , National Association of County and City Health Officials, National Association of Community Health Centers and Nemours.

“NICHQ has been working for nearly a decade to address the growing threat of obesity, and we have helped thousands of health care professionals – doctors, nurses, dieticians, and others – be more effective in counseling families and in working to make their communities healthier places to live,” said Charles Homer, MD, NICHQ’s President and CEO.  “We are honored to have this opportunity to extend the work with our many partners under HRSA’s leadership to contribute to solving this critical issue.”

“The Prevention Center for Healthy Weight will play a key role in identifying collaborative strategies for addressing and reducing obesity – an alarming and growing public health problem,” said HRSA Administrator Mary K. Wakefield, PhD, RN. 

United States Senator John Kerry congratulated NICHQ for this award in his remarks at the Boston Medical Center on Friday, September 24. Senator Kerry was on hand to highlight how national health care reform will benefit Massachusetts hospitals. “We know we need to focus not just on sickness, but on wellness,” said Kerry. “The unique work being done by organizations like the National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality (NICHQ) is ensuring Massachusetts continues to lead the way in quality, affordable healthcare.”

About NICHQ
Founded in 1999, the National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality (NICHQ) is an independent, not-for-profit, action-oriented organization dedicated to achieving a world in which all children receive the high quality healthcare they need.  Led by experienced pediatric healthcare professionals, NICHQ’s mission is to improve children’s health by improving the systems responsible for the delivery of children’s healthcare.

For the press release from HRSA, please click here: http://www.hrsa.gov/about/news/pressreleases/100924healthyweight.html

For the press release from Senator Kerry's office, please click here: http://kerry.senate.gov/press/release/?id=A1C8141A-0BBA-4167-9AB0-B8D35139225C

Senator John Kerry congratulates NICHQ’s President and CEO,

Charles Homer, MD, and Chief Operating Officer, Rachel Sachs Steele, MEd, after the announcement of the grant award.

This past March the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution designating September 2010 as the first ever National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. Then, on September 1^st, President Obama released a memo officially proclaiming  the designation (read the presidential proclamation here). To commemorate this event, Be Our Voice is creating new resources to give healthcare professionals, as well as the general population, more information about the causes of childhood obesity and the efforts being made to address them.

BOV is in a unique position to celebrate National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. Be Our Voice aims to get healthcare professionals out of their offices and into their communities as voices and implementers of change. Because the project does not focus on one clinical or policy recommendation, BOV is highly compatible with many existing initiatives and individual passions. Clinicians and other HCPs who are engaged in childhood obesity prevention and reduction programs can make sustainable, community-based level changes.  We are very proud of the over two hundred BOV advocates currently out there and ask you to join with them for change. 

The official website for National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, Healthier Kids, Brighter Futures, has a list of events happening around the country during the month of September. I encourage you to find and participate in the events happening in your area.

And, of course, spend some time on the Be Our Voice website to learn how you, as a healthcare professional, can raise your voice for kids this September.

RWJF and Trust for America’s Health Release F as in Fat 2010

Adult obesity rates climbed in 28 states during the past year and now exceed 25 percent in more than two-thirds of the states, according to F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future 2010.

The report, by Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), includes obesity rates among youths ages 10-17, and the results of a new poll on childhood obesity conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research and American Viewpoint. The poll shows that 80 percent of Americans recognize that childhood obesity is a significant and growing challenge for the country, and a strong majority supports a comprehensive national effort to prevent childhood obesity.

In addition, the report highlights troubling racial and ethnic disparities in adult obesity rates. For example, adult obesity rates for Blacks and Latinos were higher than for Whites in at least 40 states and the District of Columbia. 

The report identifies actions that the federal government and many states are taking to address the epidemic and recommends specific strategies to accelerate momentum. Recommendations include: ensuring that disease-prevention measures in the new health reform law are implemented strategically, expanding the commitment to community-based prevention programs, and sustaining investments in research and evaluation.

The Be Our Voice sites are actively engaged in working to change these trends.

You may remember I closely follow the Let’s Move campaign. When the campaign launched in February, it included a presidential memorandum that called for a comprehensive plan to be created to end childhood obesity. Well, you can envision my excitement on Tuesday when the Interagency Task Force on Childhood Obesity revealed their strategic action plan to end childhood obesity within a generation.

The task force included a set of recommendations in the report focused on the four priority areas established in the February memo: empowering parents and caregivers; providing healthy food in schools; improving access to healthy, affordable foods; and increasing physical activity. While not perfect, they are a good start.

All of us at the Be Our Voice campaign are thrilled to see this report because it aligns with our own efforts to advocate for children’s health. We cannot reverse the trend of childhood obesity alone—we need collaboration among parents, physicians, government leaders, community leaders and more. I am pleased that our administration at the highest level recognizes we need this partnership and has launched a coordinated effort with key benchmarks to measure success.

Take a look at the plan.

What do you think? Do you believe that with cooperation from all sides we will in fact end childhood obesity within a generation?

Very excited about the news from the White House.  President Obama has announced three strategies around childhood obesity.  First Lady Michelle Obama unveiled a nationwide campaign, President Obama signed an Executive Order establishing a Task Force on Childhood Obesity and The Partnership for a Healthier America, a new, nonpartisan organization to track public-private partnerships was established.

The First Lady also announced the Administration’s goal to eliminate food desserts in America within seven years.  $400 million a year has been proposed in the President’s 2011 budget for the “Healthy Food Financing Initiative” (a collaboration between the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and Treasury) to develop or equip grocery stores and other healthy food retailers in urban and rural food deserts. Mrs. Obama also unveiled the USDA Economic Research Service's (ERS) Food Environment Atlas, an interactive tool that provides a spatial overview of a community's ability to access healthy food and its success in doing so. This is a very cool tool you can use to capture local-level statistics on community characteristics, food choices, and health and well-being.

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