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Overweight/Obesity
 Obesity rates have risen sharply in the U.S. over the past 30 years, and currently, nearly one-third of children and adolescents are overweight or obese.[1] Obesity can have serious physical, psychological and social consequences for adults and children. For example, obese children and adolescents are developing "adult" diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and hypertension, and are at an increased risk for heart disease, stroke, certain types of cancer and other serious chronic conditions.[2] Obese children and adolescents are also more likely to become obese as adults.[3] Additionally, obesity can cause problems during pregnancy or make it more difficult for a woman to become pregnant.[4] AMCHP is working to support its members and partners in coordinated efforts to decrease obesity and help children, women and families maintain healthy weights and nutrition.
Project Areas
AMCHP is part of a Healthy Weight Learning Collaborative in which 50 trans-sectoral teams from around the country will identify, test and implement program and policy changes in their communities to achieve local healthy weight objectives. Led by the National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality (NICHQ), the work of these teams will continually inform and enhance the knowledge disseminated through NICHQ’s Collaborate for Healthy Weight (C4HW) project. In March 2012, 40 new teams of healthcare professionals and community leaders from across the U.S. joined Phase II of the initiative. The new groups join 10 original Phase I teams that have been working since June 2011 to improve obesity prevention and treatment in their communities. Visit www.collaborateforhealthyweight.org for more information on the teams, the collaborative, and how to get involved!
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AMCHP 2012 Skills-Building Workshop Session: The Collaborate for Healthy Weight Initiative [Feburary 2012]
C4HW's Shikha Anand and Julius Anastasio presented a skills-building session on "Applying Quality Improvement Techniques, Forming Multisector Partnerships, and Leveraging Tools and Resources: The Collaborate for Healthy Weight Initiative" at the 2012 Annual AMCHP Conference. Click here to download the PowerPoint.
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C4HW Action Call: "Using Continuous Quality Improvement to Target Obesity in Latina Populations" [November 2011]
This action call featured a presentation on AMCHP's Best Practices Program, highlighting two Innovation Station practices addressing obesity in Latino populations: La Vida Sana, La Vida Feliz (Chicago, IL) and Healthy Weight Program (Holyoke, MA). Click here to download the PowerPoint and click here to watch the webinar recording.
On February 9, 2010, President Obama issued a memorandum on Establishing a Task Force on Childhood Obesity. In his memorandum, the President stated that "The First Lady will lead a national public awareness effort to tackle the epidemic of childhood obesity. She will encourage involvement by actors from every sector – the public, nonprofit, and private sectors, as well as parents and youth -- to help support and amplify the work of the Federal Government in improving the health of our children." AMCHP is working with the First Lady's campaign to provide state MCH leaders feedback on the Let's Move initiative. For more information, contact Kate Howe.
Past Projects
Funded by CDC in 2006-2008, AMCHP and CityMatCH convened an Action Learning Collaborative with eight states -- UT, AZ, CA, FL, MA, MN and NE -- between state and local MCH leaders, epidemiologists and community representatives to focus on promoting a healthy weight during pregnancy. Some strategies teams employed include, but were not limited to: 1) Identifying relevant healthy weight messages through focus groups; 2) Developing tools and resources to promote healthy weight; 3) Raising awareness in the community; and 4) Training and education providers.
Download the AMCHP/CityMatCH Promoting Healthy Weight Collaborative Final Report at: http://citymatch.org/downloads/HW.pdf.
Resources
Staff Contacts
Kate Howe, Program Manager, Child Health
[1] Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Curtin LR, Lamb MM, Flegal KM. Prevalence of high body mass index in US children and adolescents, 2007-2008. JAMA. 2010;303(3):242-249.
[2] Freedman DS, Mei Z, Srinivasan SR, Berenson GS, Dietz WH. Cardiovascular risk factors and excess adiposity among overweight children and adolescents: the Bogalusa Heart Study. J Pediatr. 2007 Jan;150(1):12–17.e2.
[3] Whitaker RC, Wright JA, Pepe MS, Seidel KD, Dietz WH. Predicting obesity in young adulthood from childhood and parental obesity. N Engl J Med 1997; 37(13):869–873.
[4] CDC Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity. CDC Vital Signs: Adult Obesity. August 2010. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/VitalSigns/pdf/2010-08-vitalsigns.pdf.
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