Five Hundred Million Dollars Pledged To Fight Childhood Obesity Nationally, Including Texas

The New York Times reported, in an April 2007 article, that the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation plans to spend more than $500 million over the next five years to reverse the increase in childhood obesity nationally, including Texas. It is one of the largest public health initiatives ever tried by a private philanthropy."This is an epidemic that is going to cost the country in terms of morbidity and mortality and economically," said Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, the foundation's president and chief executive. "The younger generation is going to live sicker and die younger than their parents because of obesity."The foundation estimates that roughly 25 million children 17 and under are obese or overweight, nearly a third of the 74 million in that age group, according to Census Bureau data and a 2006 study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association.Many of those children are poor and live in neighborhoods where outdoor play is unsafe and access to fresh fruits and vegetables is limited. "In many cases, the environment makes it almost impossible for them to choose healthy lifestyles," Dr. Lavizzo-Mourey said. "We're going to try to change that."The foundation plans to invest in programs to improve access to healthy food, encourage the development of safe play spaces, increase research to enhance understanding of obesity and prod governments into adopting policies to address the problem, among other things.Experts on childhood obesity welcomed the foundation's plans."Government grants for biomedical research in general, including obesity research, are being funded at the lowest levels I've seen in my career," said Dr. David Ludwig, director of the Optimal Weight for Life Clinic at Children's Hospital Boston and author of a new book, "Ending the Food Fight." "So we are especially dependent on philanthropic support."Philanthropy has long fueled improvements in health, from John D. Rockefeller, whose money produced a yellow fever vaccine, to Bill and Melinda Gates, who are underwriting new health technologies and vaccines to address a variety of global problems.Robert Wood Johnson, who built Johnson

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