The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity was established to be the centerpiece of a national campaign to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic by 2015. Reaching that goal requires building coalitions and partnerships of researchers, advocates and leaders in the fields of public health, education, nutrition, planning, transportation and child health. The center provides information, support and resources to these groups and others working in the childhood obesity prevention field. But there are also actions that individuals and families can take to create environments that support healthy eating and physical activity.

For example: Individuals and families can impact environmental and policy changes that help promote access to healthy foods and beverages, including:

• Promote cooking clubs that teach participants how to prepare healthy foods, allowing them to sample nutritious, fresh foods they may never have tried.
• Launch petition drives to let city leaders know that neighborhoods need full-service, grocery stores that stock affordable fresh foods.
• Support efforts to make locally and regionally grown healthy foods available through options such as farmers’ markets and green grocers.
• Engage community, state and federal leaders to support incentives for corner stores to stock healthier products, reduce the number of fast-food chains and reduce the marketing of unhealthy foods.

Individuals and families can support strategies to create and maintain safe, inviting and accessible places for physical activity, for example:  

• Encourage community, state and federal leaders to support resources to build and maintain safe, attractive and accessible places for recreation and physical activity.
• Participate in local efforts to clean and restore parks, safeguard streets and promote community-sponsored events focused on physical activity. For example, engage the local PTA or talk with local school leaders about how to make gymnasiums, playgrounds and other recreational facilities available to the community outside of school hours.

Individuals and families can take advantage of available resources and opportunities to learn about steps they can take to achieve a healthy lifestyle.

• Talk with a doctor about individual and family risk for obesity-related conditions, and ask for help in using available screening and assessment tools to better understand and measure risk for weight-related illness.
• Work with schools, libraries, health providers and community- and faith-based organizations to provide and promote educational programs that will raise awareness of the childhood obesity epidemic and mobilize residents to advance healthy initiatives within the community. 
• Promote events, contests and incentives that encourage families and children to reduce TV or computer time and/or increase physical activity.
  TV Turnoff Week is just one example.

For facts and information about mobilizing communities to help children maintain a healthy weight and prevent obesity, visit these sites:

Coalition/Advocacy Organizations

Campaign to End Obesity
Children Now
Food Research and Action Center
National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity
National Association for Sport and Physical Education
National Coalition to Promote Physical Activity
National Complete Streets Coalition
Partnership for Play Everyday
Reconnecting America
School Nutrition Association
Smart Growth America
STOP Obesity Alliance
The Obesity Society
T4America Campaign
Trust for America’s Health

Associations/Professional Organizations

American Academy of Pediatrics
American Dietetic Association

Federal Government

CDC Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity
CDC National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Healthy Youth! – Physical Activity, School and Community Guidelines: National Institutes of Health We Can! Project
USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion
USDA Food and Nutrition Service USDA Wellness Policies
US Department of Education Carol M. White Physical Education Program Federal Communications Commission Task Force on Media and Childhood Obesity
Institute of Medicine