State Approaches to Childhood Obesity: A Snapshot of Promising Practices and Lessons Learned

Childhood obesity has become an epidemic in the U.S., with serious health and social consequences for millions of children. Medicaid alone now serves some 4 million obese children. States are growing increasingly concerned about the issue and are focusing energy and resources on addressing it. This report details state efforts to combat this complex and growing problem.

State efforts examined as part of this project are aimed at:
• Raising policy maker and public awareness about potential solutions;
• Enhancing community capacity to educate citizens and promote community infrastructures that support healthy lifestyles;
• Creating healthy school environments in which lessons learned in the classroom are modeled through school policy;
• Attempting to increase health care provider involvement in prevention and treatment initiatives and investigating opportunities to provide reimbursement for these efforts;
• Identifying high-risk populations and providing resources to encourage their involvement; and
• Conducting surveillance and monitoring activities to better understand the problem and effective solutions.
By building partnerships, coordinating programs, and pooling resources, both within and outside of state government, states hope to sustain their efforts to address the issue in comprehensive ways.