Bringing together organizations and individuals to collaborate in the fight to reverse America’s costly obesity epidemic
| Programme | Date | Who takes part |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast with Champions | Fourth annual, 2011 | Leaders from across industry, academia and public health, honouring eight Members of Congress |
| Chicago Fit Ball | Wednesday 23 March | Business and civic leaders in Chicago, led by support from the Chicago Trading Company |
| Obesity News Summary | Published every Tuesday | Open to anyone who signs up; free |
Published by the Campaign to End Obesity, Washington, D.C. Programme information reviewed June 2011.
House Republicans narrowly passed a bill that makes significant cuts across the Department of Agriculture and related agencies that is being chided by Democrats for making steep cuts to food safety and child nutrition programs.
The National Prevention Council released the National Prevention Strategy: America’s Plan for Better Health and Wellness, a plan that was applauded by the Campaign to End Obesity Action Fund as an extensive approach for both the public and private sectors to combat one of America’s most costly diseases.
Roughly one-third of high school students in the U.S. drink two or more sodas, sports drinks, or other sugary beverages per day, but only 15% get the one hour of daily aerobic exercise that health officials recommend, according to the results of a nationwide survey released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Men with lean physiques at age 18 have a lower chance of dying from cancer later in life than those who are obese at that age, a study of Harvard alumni suggests.
Today, two-thirds of U.S. adults and nearly one in three children struggle because they are overweight or have obesity. The effects of the nation’s obesity epidemic are immense: taxpayers, businesses, communities and individuals spend hundreds of billions of dollars each year due to obesity, including an estimated $168 billion in medical costs. Obesity is the reason that the current generation of youth is predicted to live a shorter life than their parents.
Much can be done to reverse the epidemic, yet important opportunities to tackle obesity at the national policy level — including changes that enable more Americans to eat healthy and be active, as well as those that provide appropriate medical treatment for patients — have gone largely unmet. The Campaign works to fill this gap.
By bringing together leaders from across industry, academia and public health with policymakers and their advisors, the Campaign provides the information and guidance that decision-makers need to make policy changes that will reverse one of the nation’s costliest and most prevalent diseases.
As the White House and Congress continue to refine budget proposals for the remainder of FY 2011 and beyond, several proposals have been introduced that would threaten or reduce funding for critical obesity prevention and treatment programs. These include a six-month spending bill for 2011 (H.R. 1473) that is expected to pass the House and Senate by April 15; House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s Budget Proposal for FY 2012 (covering the next ten years); and President Obama’s Proposed budget for FY 2012.
The Campaign to End Obesity applauded policy recommendations in a new Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Policies.
The Campaign to End Obesity announced the addition of Dr. Joe Thompson to its Board of Directors. Thompson brings significant expertise from both clinical and policy perspectives as Surgeon General for the State of Arkansas, Director of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement (ACHI) and Director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity (RWJF Center).
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Who the Campaign represents | Concerned leaders from industry, academia, public health and associations |
| Share of health care spending | 83 cents of every U.S. health care dollar is spent on an obese or overweight patient |
| States above a 20 percent adult obesity rate | 49 states in 2008; no state in 1996 |
| Free weekly publication | The Obesity News Summary, published every Tuesday to anyone who signs up |
| Supporting the work | Contributions to the nonprofit Campaign to End Obesity |
| Office | 805 15th Street, N.W., Suite 650, Washington, D.C. 20005, 202-466-8100 |
| Title | Publisher | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Obesity News Summary | Campaign to End Obesity | Published every Tuesday |
| National Prevention Strategy: America’s Plan for Better Health and Wellness | National Prevention Council | 16 June 2011 |
| Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Policies | Institute of Medicine | 2011 |
| What the Different Budget Proposals Mean for Obesity Prevention and Treatment | Campaign to End Obesity | FY2011–FY2012 |