Experts Weigh in on Preventing and Addressing Obesity

As National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month comes to a close, it’s clear that childhood obesity is an issue supported by communities, parents, schools and community programs around the nation.

Recently, the East Bay Community Foundation partnered with Kaiser Permanente to present the Weight of the Nation—a national public health campaign targeting obesity—at the Council on Foundations’ annual community foundations conference in New Orleans. The East Bay Community Foundation is an important partner in the work to combat obesity in our local communities, and the organization demonstrates how community foundations nationwide can lead collaborative efforts in fighting obesity. In this interview, Nicole Taylor, president and CEO of the East Bay Community Foundation, explains the challenges in Northern California that the East Bay Community Foundation and Kaiser Permanente are working to address.

Although Colorado takes pride in being the leanest state in the nation, the rate of overweight and obesity among children in Colorado is on the rise. In addition, the rate of childhood poverty is rising faster in Colorado than everywhere else in the nation. Children living in poverty are faced with a number of barriers putting them at greater risk for becoming overweight or obese including less access to nutritious foods like whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.

Over the last few years, The Denver Foundation and Kaiser Permanente have both supported a nonprofit aimed at addressing hunger in Colorado. Hunger Free Colorado, formerly known as the Colorado Coalition to End Hunger, is the state’s leading advocate to end hunger. It aims to do this by increasing participation in federal nutrition programs, food stamps, and school breakfast and lunch programs.

In this interview, Barbara Berv, vice president of philanthropic services at The Denver Foundation, speaks about their partnership with Kaiser Permanente and Hunger Free Colorado and the goal of eliminating hunger in Colorado.

The City of New Orleans has been taking bold steps to address obesity and fitness on a local level—most especially for the city’s children. In this recent interview, Dr. Karen DeSalvo, City of New Orleans health commissioner, discusses the Fit NOLA Partnership, which aims to improve fitness levels and combat childhood obesity in New Orleans through a number of innovative, data-driven program and policies. DeSalvo’s vision is that through Fit Nola, New Orleans will become one of the top ten fittest cities in the United States by 2018.

 

Source: http://centerfortotalhealth.org/2012/experts-weigh-in-on-preventing-and-addressing-obesity/

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