Healio
Healio
September 18, 2009
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Recommendations for communities to participate in the battle against obesity

In the July 24, 2009 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published the recommendations of a panel of experts for communities to take action in reducing the prevalence of obesity. They advised 24 strategies, in six categories:

  • Promote the availability of affordable healthy food and beverages.
    • Increase availability of healthier food and beverage choices in public service venues.
    • Improve availability of affordable healthier food and beverage choices in public service venues.
    • Improve geographic availability of supermarkets in underserved areas.
    • Provide incentives to food retailers to locate in and/or offer healthier food and beverage choices in underserved areas.
    • Improve availability of mechanisms for purchasing foods from farms.
    • Provide incentives for the production, distribution and procurement of foods from local farms.
  • Support healthy food and beverage choices.
    • Restrict availability of less healthy foods and beverages in public service venues.
    • Institute smaller portion size options in public service venues.
    • Limit advertisements of less healthy foods and beverages.
    • Discourage consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages.
  • Encourage breastfeeding.
    • Increase support for breastfeeding.
  • Encourage physical activity or limit sedentary activity among children and youth.
    • Require physical education in schools.
    • Increase the amount of physical activity in physical education programs in schools.
    • Increase opportunities for extracurricular physical activity.
    • Reduce screen time in public service venues.
  • Create safe communities that support physical activity.
    • Improve access to outdoor recreational facilities.
    • Enhance infrastructure supporting bicycling.
    • Enhance infrastructure supporting walking.
    • Support locating schools within easy walking distance of residential areas.
    • Improve access to public transportation.
    • Zone for mixed use development.
    • Enhance personal safety in areas where persons are or could be physically active.
    • Enhance traffic safety in areas where persons are or could be physically active.
  • Encourage communities to organize for change.
    • Communities should participate in community coalitions or partnerships to address obesity.

Losing weight is hard. Keeping it off is even more difficult. Part of the problem is that temptation is everywhere. Many people do not have adequate support systems to assist them in maintaining their weight loss and healthy lifestyle. Community involvement may help. I do not know how or who will pay for many of the above strategies. However, ignoring the problem and maintaining the status quo could also be very expensive. Obesity currently results in an estimated $147 billion of health care costs per year in the United States alone.

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