Researchers Explore Link Between Obesity And Environment 
KPBS, Tom Fudge, 02/15/2010 
Where you live can determine whether you become overweight. Researchers say that's why poor people and poor neighborhoods are at the center of the obesity epidemic. Researchers at San Diego State University are studying kids in a number of local neighborhoods to see how their environments affect their access to healthy food and exercise.

Editor’s Note: James Sallis, director of Active Living Research, is quoted in this article. Active Living Research is an RWJF grantee.

Chronic Health Conditions Increasing in Children, Study Finds
The Los Angeles Times, Shari Roan, 02/17/2010
More than a quarter of all U.S. children have a chronic health condition, new research suggests, a significant increase from the rate seen in earlier decades and a statistic that looms large for the nation's efforts to subdue rising healthcare costs.
 

EDITORIAL: Chew on This
The Philadelphia Inquirer, Editorial Board, 02/16/2010
According to the latest statistics, roughly one of every three children between the ages of 6 and 19 is overweight or obese. That's a recipe for a looming national disaster that must be addressed before it's too late.
 

Coverage for Treating Kids' Obesity Gets More Comprehensive
MarketWatch, Kristen Gerencher, 02/23/2010
Parents of overweight and obese children face a heavy burden in navigating a complex health-care system that does little to help them change their kids' course. But a growing number of employers and health insurers are trying to make it easier to get such help.
Editor’s Note: This article includes quotes from Ginny Ehrlich, executive director of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. RWJF supports the Alliance’s Healthy Schools Program.
 

Recruits are out of shape, overweight
By Chris Joyner, USA TODAY
JACKSON, Miss. — When the Jackson Police Department tried to recruit new officers this spring, more than a third of the applicants were not able to pass the initial physical fitness test.
The city's police academy's initial fitness exam includes push-ups, a 1½ mile run, an obstacle course and a flexibility test, Deputy Police Chief Gerald Jones said.
 

F as in Fat: HOW OBESITY THREATENS AMERICA’S FUTURE 2010
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
In 2001, then-Surgeon General David Satcher issued a landmark statement that obesity had reached epidemic proportions in America.1 The country began to react, but slowly. As the F as in Fat report has documented over the previous six years, efforts to address the skyrocketing rise of obesity rates and obesity-related diseases have slowly been growing across the country, ranging from school districts trying to improve the nutritional quality of school lunches to communities building new sidewalks to make walking safer and more accessible to millions of Americans.

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