Skip to Content

State of Obesity Report is Released

The Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has released the 14th annual State of Obesity: Better Policies for a Healthier America report.

hero_image===
thumbnail===https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/voicesactioncenter/pages/15586/attachments/original/1504194948/adult-obesity-thumbnail.png?1504194948

adult-obesity-thumbnail.png

The annual State of Obesity: Better Policies for a Healthier America report from the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) have documented significant progress toward preventing obesity and stabilizing obesity rates, especially among children. The new 2017 report highlights the long-term investments and policy changes that have contributed to progress and includes recommendations for ensuring that progress is not eroded.

Schools

As our kids go back to school, we want to ensure that they have the healthiest school day possible. State

policies impact school foods and drinks and students’ opportunities for physical activity. These things are critical both for their health and their education. The new 2017 State of Obesity Report highlights state policies for preventing obesity in schools, new adult obesity rankings and the latest about trends in child obesity. Learn more: http://bit.ly/2iLmpnd

Early Childhood

Helping all children get the healthiest possible start to life means ensuring that our early childhood education settings offer nutritious foods, drinks and snacks, as well as space and time for kids to be active. State ECE standards and policies play a critical role! The 2017 State of Obesity Report shows which states have policies to prevent obesity in ECE settings and features new adult obesity rankings and the latest child obesity trends. Learn more: http://bit.ly/2iLmpnd  

Communities

Where we live has an enormous impact on our health. Strong state policies can help improve people’s access to healthy food, increase their opportunities to be active, and help them achieve a healthy weight. How does your state fare when it comes to complete streets, healthy food financing, SNAP participation and food insecurity? Visit the new 2017 State of Obesity Report: http://bit.ly/2iLmpnd

In a statement on the newly released report, Nancy Brown, American Heart Association CEO, urges elected officials to ‘rise to the challenge’:

"This year’s State of Obesity report from Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is the latest evidence that adult obesity rates in the U.S. have steadied in recent years. After decades of sharp increases, this counts as a significant achievement. But with rates still far too high among both adults and kids, particularly among low-income and minority communities, leaders at all levels of government – local, state, and federal – must take action and build on this progress.

States and localities should work to ensure that schools promote wellness by serving and promoting healthy foods and ensuring adequate time for effective physical education and physical activity; that streets are safe for everyone to get around, whether they walk, bike, roll or drive and there are safe places for people to be active; that healthy and affordable foods are accessible in every neighborhood; and support sugary drink taxes that drive consumers to choose to purchase healthier drinks and provide revenue for evidence-based programs that promote health equity.

Congress and the Administration must show real bipartisan leadership that builds and strengthens on progress rather than turning back the clock to an unhealthier past. It will be critical to  maintain current school foods nutrition standards instead of rolling them back or eliminating parts of them; implementing menu labeling rules and updating the Nutrition Facts label instead of delaying them; ensuring adequate funding for Medicaid; fully funding the Student Support and Academic Enrichment block grant program that schools can use for physical education curriculum; and protecting the integrity and funding levels of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program  – if not increasing the monthly benefit level – while looking for innovating ways to address dietary quality.

The health of our country is at a critical point; we urge our policymakers to rise to the challenge."