In 2006, Grantmakers In Health (GIH) sponsored a meeting and published a related issue brief aimed at raising the visibility of promising efforts being made across the country to implement policies that promote healthy eating and active living.

Located in Washington, Grantmakers In Health is a nonprofit, educational organization dedicated to helping foundations and corporate giving programs improve the health of all people.

Key Results

• The meeting, part of the GIH "Issue Dialogue" series, held in Washington on November 3, 2006, drew 90 people from the field of health philanthropy. The series provides foundations of all types working in health and health care with opportunities to learn from each other, share the work of their grantees and stimulate the interest of other grantmakers in their priority issues.
  
  The meeting focused on identifying, highlighting and evaluating the range of policy options that funders can support to reduce the prevalence of obesity. It also presented a framework of policy approaches to support people in choosing healthier lifestyles.
  
  The meeting featured small group discussions for funders to learn from peers working in the following six areas:
  • Schools.
  • Food systems and sustainable agriculture.
  • The built environment.
  • Workplaces.
  • Health care systems.
  • State programs.
  
  Much of the discussion was informed by a background paper produced by project staff, which examined prior efforts by funders in the above areas.
• Project staff published a 59-page Issue Brief, entitled Reversing the Obesity Epidemic: Policy Strategies For Health Funders (available online). The report was developed from the meeting's background paper, which was revised after the meeting to synthesize key points from the discussion. Project staff distributed the report to some 1,500 grantmakers and additional health policy experts.
  
  The report identified a number of challenges and opportunities for grantmakers working in the area of healthy eating and active living, including:
  • Challenges:
    • Insufficient funds to support serious and sustained efforts.
    • Lack of political prioritization.
    • Not enough translation of research to support practical, on-the-ground application of science into policies and programs.
    • The need to establish other ways to measure success and behavior change in addition to weight loss and BMI (body mass index).
    • Combating perceptions that obesity is only an individual concern.
  • Opportunities
    • Fostering development of networks or coalitions that bring together multiple sectors including education, sustainable agri?culture, public health, transportation, parks and recreation, development and urban planning.
    • Supporting data collection, convening and offering organizational support for coalitions.
    • Supporting research and evaluation to advance understanding of which strategies are effective.
    • Understanding how poverty, race and ethnicity affect families' food and activity choices.

Funding

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) supported this project through a grant of $26,667. Two other funders, Kaiser Permanente and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, provided grants in the same amount.

After the Grant

GIH conducted two sessions at their 2007 annual meeting on obesity issues that followed up and built upon this meeting and report. At the same conference, they also provided a forum for a breakfast meeting of the RWJF-supported Healthy Eating/Active Living Convergence Partnership.