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RWJF funds efforts at the community, state and federal level to change public policies and local environments in ways that promote increased physical activity and improved nutrition for children—both of which are critical to reversing the childhood obesity epidemic. In particular, we focus on five broad approaches the evidence suggests will have the greatest and longest-lasting impact on our children. These approaches can be supported by many specific policy or environmental changes. Several are listed below, but these are only examples—there are many promising ways to achieve success. The five approaches are: 

1. Providing only healthy foods and beverages to students at school. Junk food has no place in our schools. Education leaders can improve nutrition by ensuring that all foods and beverages offered meet or exceed federal dietary guidelines, whether they’re served in cafeterias; sold in vending machines, school stores or through fundraisers; or given away as treats or rewards in classrooms.

• To help promote healthier foods and increased physical activity in schools, RWJF has supported the Healthy Schools Program since its inception. The program is an initiative of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a partnership between the American Heart Association and William J. Clinton Foundation. As part of its comprehensive approach to help educators make their schools healthier places to learn and work, the Alliance brokered an agreement with the American Beverage Association and the nation’s top three beverage companies to reduce sugar-sweetened beverages in schools. This agreement achieved a 58 percent decrease in beverage calories shipped to schools in just two years. In 2007, the Foundation funded a multimillion-dollar expansion of the program to target states with the highest rates of obesity.

2. Increasing the frequency, intensity and duration of physical activity at school. States and school districts can increase students’ physical activity by requiring daily physical education and by changing the physical education curriculum to ensure that all students are active participants. Some schools have found creative ways to add physical activity throughout the day—in classes, during recess and even when moving from one classroom to another.

• In addition to our work with the Healthy Schools Program, the Foundation supports several initiatives working to increase physical activity in schools. Studies from Active Living Research are building the evidence base about the importance of physical activity and identifying which policies and programs are most effective. Our Bridging the Gap research program is studying how school wellness policies have been implemented, including how schools have integrated physical activity into their plans.

3. Increasing the availability of affordable healthy foods in all communities. Local governments can increase access to nutritious foods by supporting farmers’ markets and working in partnership with the business community to bring new grocery stores to underserved areas. Federal and state governments also can play an important role by reforming food assistance programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to introduce incentives that encourage participants to buy healthier foods and beverages.

• The Foundation is working closely with The Food Trust, a Philadelphia-based advocacy organization whose mission is to ensure that everyone has access to affordable, nutritious food. The Food Trust has achieved tremendous success in bringing supermarkets back to underserved communities in Pennsylvania, and we’re working together to replicate those results in other states. We’ve also launched Communities Creating Healthy Environments to build local advocacy capacity to address the needs of communities of color. A key focus of the program is reducing inequities in access to affordable healthy foods.

4. Improving access to safe places where children can play. Communities can create opportunities for physical activity by building new parks and playgrounds and improving those that already exist. Other promising strategies include increasing after-school and weekend access to school playgrounds and athletic facilities and improving safety in parks or other places where children gather to play.

• In 2008, the Foundation launched Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities, our largest community action initiative ever. The program supports local efforts to reshape community environments and provides expert guidance to help local leaders develop strategies that achieve long-lasting change. Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities targets communities at highest risk for obesity on the basis of race/ethnicity, income and geographic location.

5. Limiting screen time. When children spend less time in front of a television screen, they see fewer advertisements for unhealthy foods and beverages, eat less junk food and have more time to be active. Schools can help their students limit screen time by implementing curricula like Stanford’s Student Media Awareness to Reduce Television (SMART), and child-care centers and preschools can start their children on a healthier path by eliminating the use of television altogether.

• The Foundation currently is exploring approaches to reducing the amount of time children spend in front of a television. We also support research to better understand how screen time and food marketing affect children, particularly those at greatest risk for obesity. With RWJF support, both the African American Collaborative Obesity Research Network and the Yale University Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity are working to better understand the risks of excessive screen time and explore creative approaches to limiting the marketing of unhealthy food products to children.

The Foundation also supports efforts to engage leaders at all levels of government. Leadership for Healthy Communities educates state and local leaders nationwide about ways to create healthier, more vibrant communities and prevent childhood obesity through public policies that support active living and healthy eating. The National Governors Association’s Healthy Kids, Healthy America program encourages creativity and collaboration among different departments, agencies and sectors to advance governors’ efforts to prevent childhood obesity in 15 states. 

Launched in early 2009, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity works to shape and coordinate the efforts of organizations, policy-makers and communities throughout the country, with the goal of building a national movement to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic by 2015. Working with many outstanding partners, the center aims to:

• synthesize the science and best available evidence on childhood obesity to ensure that prevention policies and activities are built on what works;
• educate policy-makers and advocates about which national, state, regional and local policies are most effective in preventing childhood obesity, especially in the communities most severely impacted;
• develop capacity and leadership in the movement to prevent childhood obesity; and
• build public will to reverse the epidemic.

The programs described in this document are only a sampling of the Foundation’s efforts to prevent childhood obesity. For a full list of programs, visit www.rwjf.org/childhoodobesity. 

What We Don't Fund  

RWJF’s strategy for reversing the childhood obesity epidemic hinges on changing policies, environments and social norms. Therefore, we generally do not support projects that provide only information or education. Because our emphasis is on preventing obesity, we do not invest in research regarding medical or surgical treatment of obesity. In keeping with Foundation policy, we give preference to proposals developed by public agencies and tax-exempt organizations. 

RWJF does not accept unsolicited proposals for its work to prevent childhood obesity. We issue specific solicitations for proposals and ideas periodically throughout the year. If you are registered to receive funding alerts through the Foundation’s Web site at www.rwjf.org, you will receive e-mail notices of each funding opportunity.

• Learn about Our Approach

For more information on the issues RWJF seeks to address, download our complete overview.