Video: RWJF President Risa Lavizzo-Mourey Accepts 2011 APHA Presidential Citation

Video: RWJF President Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

Accepts 2011 APHA Presidential Citation

By: Ryan Duncan

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, MD, MBA, President and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) joined the ranks of Nelson Mandela, the National Association of Community Health Centers, the National WIC Association and families of public health workers everywhere as she recieved the prestigious APHA Presidential Citation as part of the keynote speech in the Opening Session of the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting. This represents the first time that a philanthropy has received the citation.

Dr. Mourey said in her remarks:

“To improve Americans’ health, we need to look at where people live, learn, work and play to get at the factors that shape health even more profoundly than the health care we get when we’re sick,” said Lavizzo-Mourey in a Q&A with the APHA blog, Public Health Newswire. “Improving America’s health requires leadership and action from every sector, including public health, health care, education, transportation, community planning, private business and other areas.”

Congratulations to Dr. Mourey and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for receiving this well-deserved and prestigious award!



New Report Shows America Getting Fatter

New Report Shows America Getting Fatter

Continuing from yesterday's blog post on the efforts to combat childhood obesity, looks like the adults are not leading by example. According to a new report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation obesity rates among adults now exceed 25 percent in more than two-thirds of the states. Not a single state had a decline in weight and rates actually climbed in 16 states. It was the Southern states who seem to be dragging down the rest of the country, with Mississippi taking the record again for being the fattest state in the nation. Colorado came out on top as the fittest, and as the only state with an obesity rate under 20 percent.

With all the attention being paid these days to fighting obesity, getting fit, working out, eating healthy, to see the country continue to slide in the wrong direction is extremely disheartening. One has to wonder what it will take to snap the country from it's addiction to fatty foods.

To read more on this report visit: http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/07/f-is-for-americans-getting-fatter/

Community Groups Tackle Childhood Obesity

Community Groups Tackle Childhood Obesity

Saving the nation’s children from the ravages associated with childhood obesity is the mission of the Pioneering Healthier Communities (PHC) coalitions, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation through the YMCA. One hundred ninety PHCs are operating throughout the United States and have the potential to impact up to 34 million Americans. These grassroots leaders are working on behalf of children and families by increasing access to physical activity, healthy food and food choices.  Additionally, these community activists are working to change policies and laws that hinder their progress toward achieving those goals.  In Marion County, Ohio, where over 30 percent of the youth are overweight, the PHC is also adding a “multi-platform network that provides continuing and consistent education on healthy eating and physical activity” and working collaboratively with other community-based organizations to ensure Marion is a healthy community for all its residents.

For more on the Marion, Ohio PHC, read: http://www.marionstar.com/article/20110703/OPINION/107030328

Healthy Communities: Improving Ourselves Inside and Out

Healthy Communities:

Improving Ourselves Inside and Out

Yesterday’s release of nationwide county health rankings prepared by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, paints a detailed picture of community health disparities and improvements. The annual rankings allow people to compare their county with others in the state on multiple health factors set against national benchmarks.  For communities experiencing poor health seeking to improve next year’s rankings, external progress may include: adding more farmer’s markets and urban grocery stores, providing greater and affordable access to health care, creating jobs in high unemployment areas or constructing safer sidewalks for pedestrians and bicyclists.  Such gains could certainly reposition these ailing communities on track to better health in the coming years. So what about health challenges that aren’t easily visible? Scientists at the University of Buffalo have been studying different situations that prompt overeating in children. Studies suggest overweight children who feel left out or ostracized are likely to eat more, contributing to or exacerbating chronic illnesses like Type 2 diabetes or high cholesterol. We  may have add the grocery store but still have a child who fills up on junk food to ease internal pain. First Lady Michelle Obama is addressing this through her “Let’s Move” campaign, yet it needs a community commitment and compassion toward each other to succeed, not one of apathy, indifference. Creating healthy communities will require solutions that heal us inside and out.  

Highlighted Clip for Thursday, March 31, 2011:

"Ostracized overweight kids eat more"

By Nanci Hellmich

When overweight children feel left out or ostracized, they tend to eat more and exercise less, new research shows.

Camden Childhood Obesity Rate Tops National Average

Camden Childhood Obesity Rate Tops National Average

Although obesity in children has reached epidemic proportions nationally, in Camden, NJ, the rate of obesity among children ages 3-19 is a staggering 40 percent. In response, the Camden-based Campbell Soup Company in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the New Jersey Partnership for Healthy Kids, Food Trust and others, today pledged $10 million to dramatically decrease childhood obesity and hunger in Camden in the next decade.  The 10-year strategy includes providing increased access to affordable, healthy food; expanding availability of and participation in physical activity and physical education; and increasing nutrition and health education.  

Highlighted Clip for Wednesday, March 9, 2011:

"Campbell Soup Company Unveils Ten-Year Plan to Reduce Childhood Obesity and Hunger in Camden"

Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB - News) today unveiled a plan to reduce childhood obesity and hunger in Camden, Campbell’s home since 1869. The company will invest $10 million over ten years with the goal of reducing childhood obesity and hunger in Camden’s 23,000 children by 50 percent.