Childhood Obesity Program Area

RWJF is committed to tackling one of the most urgent threats to the health of our children and families—childhood obesity. Our goal is to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic by 2015.

Public Policy Versus Individual Rights in Childhood Obesity Interventions

September 1, 2011 | Journal Article

Childhood obesity is a major public health problem. Experts recommend that prevention and control strategies include population-based policies.

A Legal Primer for the Obesity Prevention Movement

October 1, 2009 | Journal Article

To help policy-makers avoid crossing constitutional boundaries, this article distilled the legal concepts most relevant to formulating policies aimed at preventing obesity: police power allocation of power among federal, state, and local governments freedom of speech property rights privacy equal protection and contract rights.

Public Health Law and the Prevention and Control of Obesity

March 1, 2009 | Journal Article

This article is part of a special issue on obesity in the March 2009 edition of The Milbank Quarterly, available free of charge throughout 2009 at Wiley-Blackwell.

Despite industry promises, Yale study finds unprecedented marketing of sugary drinks to youth

October 31, 2011 | News Release

Research findings uncover targeted outreach to African Americans and Latinos.

Predicting Support for Restricting Food Marketing to Youth

March 1, 2010 | Journal Article

This paper examines attitudes and knowledge about food marketing and support for restricting unhealthy food marketing restrictions among one group of constituents: parents.

CDC Held Summit to Look at how Laws are Being Used to Prevent and Control Obesity

December 9, 2009 | Program Result Report

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) held its second National Summit on Legal Preparedness for Obesity Prevention and Control in June 2008.