In response to dramatic increases in the number of Arkansas children and adolescents who are overweight or at risk for overweight, in 2003 the Arkansas legislature passed Arkansas Act 1220 to Combat Obesity. This new law included the most ambitious school reforms in the nation to limit vending and competitive foods (a la carte and vending items that compete with the school meals that must meet federal guidelines, e.g. sodas and foods of limited nutritional value). It also established better standards for food offerings and physical activity.

One section of the act requires all school districts to measure body mass index (BMI) for every public school student annually and report results to parents.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) started funding a set of grants it calls Information for Action that takes advantage of Arkansas Act 1220 by supporting two activities that promote understanding about the effectiveness of school-based initiatives in reducing childhood obesity.

This report covers findings and results through 2007; it will be updated when Information for Action has closed.

Information for Action's components are:

• Act 1220 Evaluation, in which researchers at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health measure the effects of Act 1220 on children, families and schools. The evaluation assesses children's diet, physical activity and school environment the year Act 1220 took effect (year 1) and again for each of the three years after implementation of the act (years 2, 3 and 4). This component is funded to mid-August 2012.
  
  Among the evaluation's findings are:
  • After three years, the percentage of students classified as overweight or at risk for overweight decreased from 38.1 percent during the first year to 37.6 percent during the third year. In year 4 (2006–07 school year), the percentage increased slightly to 37.8 percent.
  • School districts increasingly adopted new nutrition and physical activity policies. For example, the percentage of districts with a policy prohibiting "junk food" in cafeterias increased from 37 percent to 63 percent; an increasing percentage of school districts required that physical activities such as walking be included in the physical education program; and the percentage of all schools—elementary, middle and high—with vending machines on campus decreased from 85 percent to 80 percent.
  • Parents did not view BMI assessments as controversial. Overall, 85 percent of principals had fewer than five parental contacts on the issue during the year.
  • Parents have become more aware of health problems associated with childhood obesity. Some 81 percent of parents interviewed mentioned diabetes as a health problem for overweight children in year 4, compared with 66 percent in year 1.
• The Arkansas BMI Database Project, in which researchers at the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement (ACHI) at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences analyze BMI data to study how BMI status affects health status and to use findings to inform policy. Through 2007, the database contains four years of BMI data on Arkansas students. This component is funded through November 2009.
  
  Among the evaluation findings are:
  • The project demonstrated to all the stakeholders in Arkansas that childhood and adolescent obesity is a problem in every Arkansas school district, with all districts having at least 20 percent of students who were overweight or at risk of overweight.
  • ACHI negotiated with the Arkansas Department of Human Services to link the BMI database and the state's Medicaid claims database. During the 2004-05 school year, this link resulted in a match of 247,101 students (more than half of all public school students) whose BMI had been assessed and who also received Medicaid.
  • By 2006, ACHI housed the world's largest database of child-specific BMIs with matching sociodemographic information (such as gender and race)—and the database has kept growing.
  • After three years (school year 2005–06), the rate of obesity leveled off in Arkansas. The leveling off of the trend may or may not have been a result of the law; this is unclear.
  • Overall, during the first three years of the Arkansas BMI Initiative, 20 states and six countries contacted ACHI for information or assistance in developing similar policies and practices.