Effects of Proximity to Supermarkets on a Randomized Trial Studying Interventions for Obesity

Overview

This study assessed whether proximity to a supermarket modified the effects of an obesity intervention for participating children aged 6 to 12 years with a body mass index (BMI) at or above the 95th percentile. Authors found that living closer to a supermarket is associated with greater improvements in fruit and vegetable intake and weight status in an obesity intervention. 

The State of Obesity: Better Policies for a Healthier America 2014

Overview

In this report, we focus on some of the highest-impact approaches, including implementation of policies to: increase physical activity before, during and after school; offer nutritious food and beverages at school; make healthy, affordable food prevalent in all communities; ensure healthy food and beverage marketing practices; engage healthcare professionals to more effectively prevent obesity both within and outside the clinic walls, in collaboration with community partners; and intensify our focus on prevention in early childhood. 

Rural Childhood Obesity Prevention Toolkit

Overview

Leadership for Healthy Communities, a national program office of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, developed the Rural Childhood Obesity Prevention Toolkit to help local and state leaders advance innovative, evidence-informed strategies for improving health in rural towns, counties, tribal lands, and schools.

Profile: Desert Rain Food Service, Tohono O'odham Nation

Overview

For the Tohono O'odham Tribe in southwestern and central Arizona, food is the foundation of health, culture, community, family, and economies. Since 1996, the grassroots community organization Tohono O’odham Community Action (TOCA) has been dedicated to improving the health, cultural vitality, sustainability, and economic revitalization for the Tohono O’odham Nation.

This fall, thanks to TOCA’s new school food enterprise, Desert Rain Food Services, 700 children on the Tohono O'odham Nation will be served healthier school food sourced from local farmers. TOCA received a $300,000 Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) grant to pilot a school food service enterprise that supports healthier eating and a strong indigenous food economy.

Profile: Mandela MarketPlace

Overview

Mandela MarketPlace grew out of grassroots community organizing efforts to shift resource dynamics, giving residents access to healthy food retail and neighborhood development funding. Incorporated in 2004, Mandela MarketPlace is a nonprofit organization that currently works in partnership with local farmers, local residents, and community-based businesses to build health, wealth, and assets through cooperative food enterprises.

Read this in-depth case study and accompanying photo essay for more information. 

F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2013

Overview

Each year, the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) issues this report to examine strategies for addressing the obesity crisis. In this 10th edition of the report, TFAH and RWJF included annual rates and rankings of adult obesity and obesity rate trends by region, age, gender, education and income.

F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2013

Overview

After three decades of increases, adult obesity rates remained level in every state except for one, Arkansas, in the past year, according to F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2013, a report from the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).