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Goal: Affinity is
interested in funding new approaches that provide
children with the knowledge, skills, and ability to
maintain and/or achieve a healthful lifestyle that
involves both their family and community.
Overview: The rising level of obesity among
Americans represents one of the most worrisome trends in
public health, with alarming implications for health
care costs, disease rates, and life expectancy. The
statistics are shocking: in just 25 years, obesity has
tripled among children. In New York City, more than half
of all adults are overweight or obese; at one child in
five, the obesity rate among local kindergarten-age
children now exceeds the adult population. Obesity is
linked to ailments including asthma, depression,
diabetes and heart disease. Current rates of childhood
obesity threaten to reverse the historical progression
toward longer life expectancy. Because many factors
(commercial, social, environmental, genetic and
technological) contribute to obesity, it is difficult to
address the condition effectively.
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Although physical activity and diet can help achieve and
maintain a healthy weight, too many Americans consume
excess calories and exercise inadequately, resulting in
an energy imbalance. Technology has encouraged these
behaviors, promoting sedentary lifestyles enabled by
cars, elevators, computers, dishwashers and television.
More than one-quarter of all adults report no
leisure-time physical activity. Even the presence of
sidewalks, along with other features of the built
environment, can affect activity. Because behavior and
environment play key roles in weight gain, prevention
and treatment actions must pay attention to these
factors.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has set a
national health objective for the year 2010 to reduce
the prevalence of obesity among adults to less than 15%
and from 11 to
5% for adolescents. Keeping this goal in mind,
strategies must be developed to target those populations
most at risk. Throughout the country, the prevalence of
obesity varies according to race and ethnicity.
African-Americans and Hispanics are more likely to be
overweight or obese compared to Caucasian youth and
adults.
Being overweight or obese increases the risk of many
diseases and health conditions, placing populations at
risk and increasing health care expenditures. Indirect
costs are also substantial and include lost income from
decreased productivity, restricted activity, absenteeism
and bed days; and the value of future income lost by
premature death.
Strategies to halt the current obesity epidemic include
focusing activity on prevention, behavioral and
environmental change, as well as bringing together
entire families and communities to work on this issue.
Prevention strategies include promoting healthy
nutrition and physical activity among young children.
Schools are uniquely positioned to reinforce these
behaviors, since they are places where children spend
most of their day, eat meals and have opportunities to
promote physical activity.
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