Cities and States Report Declining Childhood Obesity Rates

Philadelphia, NYC, Mississippi, and California are fighting the epidemic head on—and seeing real changes.

Philadelphia

-4.7%
2006-2010, Grades K-12

New York City

-5.5%
2006-2011, Grades K-8

Mississippi

-13.3%
2005-2011, Grades K-5

California

-1.1%
2005-2010, Grades 5, 7, & 9
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Reversing the Childhood Obesity Epidemic: Signs of Progress

Today, nearly one-third of children and teens are overweight or obese. Growing evidence suggests that strong, far-reaching changes—those that make healthy foods available in schools and communities and integrate physical activity into people's daily lives—are working to reduce childhood obesity rates. More efforts are needed to implement these types of sweeping changes nationwide and to address health disparities that exist among underserved communities and populations.

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After decades of rising childhood obesity rates, several American cities are reporting their first declines. The trend has emerged in big cities like New York and Los Angeles, as well as smaller places like Anchorage, Alaska, and Kearney, Neb. The state of Mississippi has also registered a drop, but only among white students.”

The New York Times, in an article titled "Obesity in Young is Seen as Falling in Several Cities"

Signs of Progress in Cities and States

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Philadelphia: Making Progress to Close Disparities Gap

Philadelphia not only achieved an overall decline in obesity rates among all K-12 students, but reported the largest declines among African American males and Hispanic females.

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NYC: Active by Design

The NYC Active Design Guidelines provide architects and urban designers with strategies for promoting walking, bicycling, and recreation through building, street, and urban space design.

Read the guidelines
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Mississippi: The Healthy Students Act

The Healthy Students Act of 2007 required Mississippi's public schools to provide more time for physical activity, offer healthier foods and beverages, and develop health education programs. A new report details the state's progress.

Read the evaluation
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California: Healthier Choices at Corner Stores

Corner stores in Long Beach are encouraging nutritious eating through food sampling, signage, and healthier product offerings.

Read the blog post

Role of Schools in Promoting Health

Schools play a critical role in helping children lead active, healthy lives. The foods and beverages available in schools have a significant impact on children’s diets and their weight. Schools also provide important opportunities for physical activity to children across all grade levels.

While some schools are making changes to create a healthier environment for students, many still offer junk food and sugary drinks, and there has been little progress to promote physical activity during or after the school day.

A new report shows where U.S. middle and high schools are making progress and where more work is needed. It also highlights disparities in health-related practices that affect students from different socioeconomic, racial, or ethnic groups.

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Some cities & states across the nation are seeing signs of progress in #childhoodobesity

We think of these findings as fragile and exciting. After 30 years of steady increases, it’s exciting. But these are early changes, these are not secure changes. They could reverse easily and so it is by no means a notion that the epidemic is on the run. Rather, it is the notion that it is able to be defeated if society makes the changes that we know are necessary.

- James S. Marks, MD, MPH, senior vice president and director of the RWJF Health Group, to Time magazine.

RWJF Program Areas

Childhood Obesity
Childhood Obesity
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New Report Finds Adult Obesity Rates Could Exceed 60 Percent in 13 States by 2030

The number of obese adults, along with related disease rates and health care costs, are on course to increase dramatically in every state in the country over the next 20 years, according to F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2012, a new report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Trust for America's Health.

The report also shows that states could prevent obesity-related diseases and dramatically reduce health care costs if they reduced the average body mass index of their residents by just 5 percent by 2030.

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Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities

Reshaping Communities for Healthier Kids

Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities, an RWJF national program, is helping dozens of communities across the country transform their environments to support healthy living and prevent childhood obesity. This video series highlights how the program has made healthy changes in Louisville, KY; Central Valley, CA; and Chicago, IL.

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