Childhood Obesity Program Area

RWJF is committed to tackling one of the most urgent threats to the health of our children and families—childhood obesity. Our goal is to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic by 2015.

Does Playworks Have an Impact on Schools and on the Children Who Attend Them?

September 17, 2012 | Story

Susanne N. James-Burdumy, PhD, Associate Director of Research at Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., leads the random assignment evaluation of Playworks, a program that uses play to promote physical activity and youth development in schools.

The State of Play

February 1, 2010 | Survey/Poll

RWJF commissioned a first-of-its-kind Gallup poll of 1,951 principals in partnership with the National Association of Elementary School Principals and Playworks, a Vulnerable Populations grantee.

The Boston Schoolyard Initiative: A Study of Its Schoolyard Renovations

October 3, 2008 | Program Result

Researchers in the Boston University Department of Environmental Health conducted a case study of the Boston Schoolyard Initiative, a project that provides funds and technical support to community groups dedicated to renovating schoolyards in Boston.

Students Help Design and Build Dream Playground

Children can accumulate up to 40% of their total daily physical activity during recess Providing recess during the school day helps increase physical activity and improve academic performance among children. Children at high risk for obesity are lea ...

Daily P.E. Could Increase Youth Physical Activity by 23 Minutes per Day, According to New Study

January 17, 2013 | News Release

Requiring daily physical education in school could help young people be active for 23 minutes per day, according to a new study.