Featured
Playworks Gets Kids Moving
A new evaluation shows that students at schools participating in the Playworks program engaged in more, and more intense, physical activity.
Childhood Obesity
From Healthy Eating Research
Unhealthy Food Ads Dominate Spanish TV Shows for Kids
More than 84 percent of all foods and beverages advertised to children on Spanish-language television shows are unhealthy, according to a study published in the Journal of Health Communication.
From the Campaign to End Obesity
The Long-Term Returns of Obesity Prevention Policies
Current methods for estimating the costs and savings of federal legislation miss billions of dollars in potential long-term returns from effective obesity prevention policies, and changing the way cost estimates are created could give policymakers a clearer picture of costs and savings.
Competitive Foods
RWJF Comments on Proposed Nutrition Standards for School Snacks, Drinks
RWJF President and CEO Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, MD, urges the U.S. Department of Agriculture to finalize and fully implement the updated standards as soon as possible, to ensure that all students have access to healthier snack foods and beverages.
From Bridging the Gap
Strong School Meal Standards Linked to Student Weight
A study links strong nutrition standards for school meals with lower obesity rates, especially among students who were eligible for free and reduced-price lunches.
Featured
Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans Midcourse Report
A new report, and an op-ed from RWJF President and CEO Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, highlight promising interventions to help children and teens be active for 60 minutes or more each day.
Featured
Signs of Progress
Growing evidence, from places like California, Mississippi, New York City, and Philadelphia, suggests that strong, far-reaching changes are working to reduce childhood obesity rates.
Report
F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future
This report includes an analysis that forecasts adult obesity rates in each state in the year 2030, and shows that states could prevent diseases and reduce health care costs if they reduced residents’ average body mass index by just 5 percent by 2030.
Creating a Healthy Place for Kids in Trenton, NJ
"A long time coming." The New Jersey Partnership for Healthy Kids helped make Monument Elementary School in Trenton a healthier place for students by leading efforts to build a new playground and install a salad bar in the cafeteria.
New Website Will Help Communities Improve Access to Healthy Affordable Food
Too many Americans don’t have reliable access to nutritious affordable foods, but national momentum to address this issue is growing. The launch of the federal Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) and the state and local efforts currently underway are already beginning to make a difference and improve fresh food access in underserved communities across the country.
With a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, PolicyLink, The Food Trust, and The Reinvestment Fund have created the first comprehensive healthy food access retail web portal. Designed to help communities launch healthy food retail projects across the country, the user-friendly portal enables communities to tap into a vibrant online network, which includes practical resources and cases studies, as well as the latest about funding opportunities.
Visit the siteDo All Americans Have Equal Access to Healthy Foods?
Research provides clear evidence that food deserts, areas with limited access to affordable and nutritious foods, exist in numerous lower-income communities and communities of color across the country.
Read the briefThe Healthy Food Financing Handbook
Informed by more than 20 years of experience working to support healthier food in communities, the Food Trust’s toolkit provides a step-by-step approach to developing state and local policies that encourage the development of supermarkets and other healthy food stores in underserved communities.
Read the toolkitFrom Healthy Eating Research
Recommendations for Healthier Beverages
Providing healthier beverages is important for schools, hospitals, and more – but which beverages should qualify? For the first time, a national group of academic leaders, advocates, public health professionals and policy experts has put forth recommendations for healthier beverages for every age.
About the Childhood Obesity Program
Our Goal
Our goal is to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic by 2015 by improving access to affordable healthy foods and increasing opportunities for physical activity in schools and communities across the nation.
Learn MoreChildhood Obesity News
Our Priorities
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School Foods and Beverages
Ensure that all foods and beverages served and sold in schools meet or exceed the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
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Healthy Affordable Food
Increase access to high-quality, affordable foods through new or improved grocery stores and healthier corner stores and bodegas.
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Physical Activity at School
Increase the time, intensity and duration of physical activity during the school day and out-of-school programs.
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Physical Activity in Communities
Increase physical activity by improving the built environment in communities.
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Pricing Strategies
Use pricing strategies—both incentives and disincentives—to promote the purchase of healthier foods.
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Marketing to Kids
Reduce youths' exposure to the marketing of unhealthy foods through regulation, policy and effective industry self-regulation.
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