As we begin again to consider health care reform in this nation, the issue of childhood obesity should not be ignored.
Healthcare Topic: Obesity
Wednesday, May 5, 2009
Thursday, May 5, 2009
While there is certainly no magic bullet, constructing a system that keeps in mind the needs of families and children will prove crucial to the integrity of the system as a whole. Improvement will certainly require simultaneous efforts on a number of fronts, but building a system around the needs of our children will create health care that embodies our values, delivers effectively, and eventually lowers cost.
Wednesday, May 5, 2009
Last May, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution naming May “National Bicycle Month,” giving federal recognition to our most efficient form of transportation. Several months later, the Bicycle Commuter Act was signed into law, enabling bicycle commuters to receive tax-free benefits for their unique contributions reducing traffic congestion and air pollution while improving their own health.
Monday, November 11, 2009
Dr. David Kessler, as you’ve probably heard, is out with a terrific best-seller called The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite. The cover grabs your attention: very pure white glossy background with a carrot cake and carrots.
Monday, January 1, 2010
We all recognize the signs of a livable community: people biking and kids walking safely around their neighborhoods. These are important forms of commuting that also contribute to a community’s vitality. This is especially true for children, who should be able to securely walk and bike to their most important destinations: schools, parks, and their friends’ homes.
Monday, January 1, 2010
It’s no secret that childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of obese children has tripled since 1980.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
One perverse side effect of the stalled national health reform legislation is that popular, commonsense provisions tucked in the bills get stuck too. That includes the restaurant menu labeling requirement, which has support from Democrats; Republicans; the public health community; and, more recently, even the fast-food industry.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Obesity is increasingly becoming an epidemic in industrialized nations, particularly in the U.S. where one out of every three adults is obese.
Tuesday, March 3, 2010
There’s no doubt Mrs. Obama’s Let’s Move campaign has re-energized public health officials, community health workers, and advocates who have been fighting the childhood obesity epidemic for years. But the latest numbers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show just what a challenge solving the problem will be
Monday, May 5, 2010
WIC participation saves taxpayer dollars in the babies’ early years and contributes to the prevention of several chronic diseases in both the mom and the child later in life. WIC is also taking on a very important role in fighting an epidemic that poses one of the greatest new threats to childhood health: obesity.
Monday, July 7, 2010
With the passage of the Affordable Care Act, state, tribal, and local governmental agencies and community-based organizations now have the opportunity to transform their communities into places that offer healthy choices to all residents.
Thursday, January 1, 2011
Play has been receiving some long-overdue attention in recent months. Major media are abuzz discussing the benefits of play, the consequences of its removal, and how parents and communities can work to actively restore play for their children.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Obesity is one of the most challenging health crises the country has ever faced; obesity-related medical costs and a less productive workforce are hampering America’s ability to compete in the global economy.
Thursday, April 4, 2011
For individuals fortunate enough to have access to a car, what is it that makes us pack up our things, load the kids or perhaps the family dog and head out across town instead of heading to a local playground we could reach on foot?
Wednesday, June 6, 2011
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 created the Prevention and Public Health Fund to prevent illness and promote the health of all Americans. The Prevention and Public Health Fund (the Fund) will provide $15 billion over the first 10 years and $2 billion each year after to national, state, and community efforts to promote health and wellness. These efforts will help prevent disease, manage conditions before they become epidemics, and decrease burgeoning health care costs.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
From my window I can hear the sounds of children at play. Their giggles and chants echo what childhood should be—a carefree time to explore, play, and challenge oneself. Only, despite the appearance this boisterous group provides, this is not the case for many children. In fact for many children play has become an issue of social justice.
Wednesday, July 7, 2011
Obesity is hurting more than just our health, it’s hitting us in the pocketbook. Obesity-related health care costs total around $147 billion annually, roughly 10 percent of health care spending. And it’s hurting our productivity. Obesity-related job absenteeism costs about $4.3 annually, lower productivity accounts for approximately $506 per obese worker per year, and as a person’s BMI increases, so do his or her sick days, medical claims, and health care costs.
Thursday, August 8, 2011
Service learning presents an amazing opportunity to include children and youth in efforts to deal with the public health crises that are obesity and the play deficit.
Tuesday, November 11, 2011
Preventing disease is one of the most common sense ways to improve health in America. But it is also a major factor for improving the economy.
Tuesday, February 2, 2012
Tuesday, March 3, 2012
The City of Niagara Falls was “spending a lot of money to maintain marginal courts where people didn’t want them anyway, and we were getting complaints from neighbors who lived nearby.” “We wanted to use all of that money to create one large-scale park with actual programming. It led to a much more elegant solution that let us do more things than anybody thought we’d get. – Thomas Desantis, Playing Smart, Maximizing the Potential of School and Community Property Through Joint Use Agreements
Thursday, April 4, 2012
It’s been in the news and at the forefront of public health policy debates—childhood obesity has tripled in the past 30 years and now represents one of the leading public health threats for our nation. (1) According to the National Center for Health Statistics, more than one-third of children and adolescents are overweight or obese. (2) These numbers are alarming because obesity is associated with a number of significant health consequences, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers, as well as psychosocial and emotional consequences.
Thursday, May 5, 2012
With the rapidly changing economic trends within the United States, participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has ballooned recently. As of April 2, 2012, the total number of individuals participating in SNAP in the United States was 46,449,850. SNAP is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s largest food and nutrition assistance program and the cornerstone of the nation’s programs for reducing food insecurity and hunger.
Thursday, June 6, 2012
For more than 40 years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has served as America’s nutrition safety net. In fiscal year 2011, SNAP served nearly 45 million people, about one in seven Americans nationwide. SNAP promotes optimal health and the well-being of low-income individuals through improved nutrition and nutrition education.
Thursday, July 7, 2012
This year, public health stakeholders have launched three key communication pieces to refocus the problem of obesity. Although these pieces are standalone efforts, they show how powerful coordinated efforts between researchers, local public health professionals and the American public can be. Together, these three pieces can give stakeholders at multiple levels concrete actions they can take to combat the problem of obesity.