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.
More fruit, veggies in U.S. school lunch rules
Reuters, 1.25.12 U.S. schoolchildren, accustomed to a steady diet of pizza and french fries, will find more fruits, vegetables and whole grains on their cafeteria trays under new government school lunch rules announced on Wednesday. The new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) rules aim to boost the nutritional quality of the federally subsidized meals consumed by roughly 32 million U.S. schoolchildren daily.
Comparative Effectiveness Body Releases Research Draft Priorities for Public Comment
Bloomberg BNA, 1.24.12 A comparative effectiveness entity set up by the health reform law will initially focus its research on broad topics and will not single out any specific diseases or conditions, according to the organization's draft agenda for research priorities, released for public comment Jan. 23. The National Priorities for Research and Research Agenda will be used to guide funding announcements for comparative clinical effectiveness research that will give patients and those who care for them the ability to make better-informed health decisions, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) said in a statement. The 53-day public comment period, which will end March 15, will be used to solicit feedback and revise the priorities and agenda before a final version of each is adopted by PCORI's Board of Governors.
Interview: Health reform’s comparative effectiveness chief
Washington Post, 1.26.12 In late 2011, a doctor named Joe Selby was charged with a very big task: Figure out which health care treatments are most effective. Selby is the first executive director of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, an independent body created by the health reform law that has a $3 billion budget for comparative effectiveness research.
Getting the family involved may help obese kids lose weight
LA Times, 1.23.12 Childhood obesity is a complex issue with no simple solutions, but involving the entire family in weight loss and health may help kids achieve their goals, a report finds. A scientific statement released Monday in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Assn. reviews strategies shown to be successful in helping kids slim down. Some studies find that obese children can have symptoms normally associated with adult obesity, such as high blood pressure and cholesterol. Others suggest that overweight kids often turn into overweight adults.
L.A. County takes step to promote exercise, reduce obesity
LA Times, 1.25.12 Los Angeles County supervisors approved an ordinance Tuesday that requires new developments to have wider sidewalks, bicycle parking and other changes to promote exercise and reduce obesity.
US obesity epidemic shows no signs of reversing course, reports on kids and adults show
Associated Press, 1.17.12 America’s obesity epidemic is proving to be as stubborn as those maddening love handles, and shows no sign of reversing course. More than one-third of adults and almost 17 percent of children were obese in 2009-2010, echoing results since 2003, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday.
Schools pressed to do more to keep kids fit
McClatchy-Tribune, 1.16.12 Testing has driven the nation's education agenda during the No Child Left Behind decade, but now another debate is emerging: how much physical education children need during the school day. As childhood obesity rates climb to disturbing levels, some say schools must do more than hold daily recess when it comes to keeping children fit. At the same time, a growing body of research suggests that exercise boosts students' learning and academic achievement.
New Obesity Counseling Coverage Can Help Patients And Taxpayers By
Joseph W. Thompson, MD, MPH, Surgeon General for the State of Arkansas and Director of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement (ACHI). Dr. Thompson serves on the board of the Campaign to End Obesity.
With primary care medicine facing ever increasing pressures—fewer doctors to treat more patients and a continual maze of restrictions on reimbursement—primary care practitioners are trying to diagnose and treat obesity with one hand tied behind their backs. The result, unfortunately, is that for what is likely the nation’s costliest disease, strains on coverage have been yet another needless hurdle to getting patients diagnosed and treated in a clinical environment.
A comprehensive approach to diagnosing and treating obesity is just good medicine, and physicians need good reimbursement policies to make this practicepractical. Fortunately,a recent rulingout from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is one bright spot in beginning to change this trend. CMS has ruled that it will cover services for high intensity obesity counseling.
Congressional Workshop to Explore Fact vs. Fiction in
Obesity Policy On Thursday, July 14, the Campaign to End
Obesity will convene congressional staff, key members of the public health
community and industry to identify causes of the obesity epidemic and potential
solutions. “Fact v. Fiction: The TRUTH about Obesity in America” will consider
what science says are the main contributors to overweight and obesity; what is
being done at the community and policy levels in response to the epidemic; and
what hurdles exist in treating
obesity.
The Campaign to End Obesity today announced that Karen Licitra, Johnson & Johnson Company Group Chairman and Worldwide Franchise Chairman for Ethicon Endo-Surgery will assume the position of Board Chair.
Campaign Honors Congressional Champions for Work Combating Obesity The Campaign to End Obesity recognized eight outstanding Members of Congress whose work has been instrumental in moving forward provisions to end the obesity epidemic. In its fourth annual “Breakfast with Champions,” leaders from across industry, academia and public health convened to acknowledge these key players in health care, nutrition and transportation policy, among other areas. The event also served to encourage these visionaries’ colleagues to take up needed reforms that will reverse one of America’s costliest medical challenges.
What the Different Budget Proposals Mean for Obesity Prevention and Treatment 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. Below are summaries of how each of the three plans could potentially impact anti-obesity programs.
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).
To learn more about changes in federal policy that will enable more
Americans
to eat healthy and be active, as well as those that provide appropriate
medical treatment for patients, visit the Campaign to End Obesity Action
Fund's website by clicking here.
* In 2010, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported that
nearly 20 percent of the increase in U.S. health care spending (from
1987‐2007) was caused by obesity.
* The annual health costs related to obesity in the U.S. are as high
as $168
billion, and nearly 17 percent of U.S. medical costs can be attributed
on obesity,
according to research released by the National Bureau of Economic
Research.
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