The White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity wrote a report, Solving the Problem of Childhood Obesity Within a Generation, to President Obama.  This report presents a series of 70 specific recommendations that focus on strategies in 1) giving children a healthy start on life, 2) empowering parents and caregivers, 3) providing healthy food in schools, 4) improving access to healthy, affordable food, and 5) getting children to be more physically active. 

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a practical, action-oriented framework to guide the use of evidence in decision making about obesity prevention policies and programs.  Click to view the report brief for Bridging the Evidence Gap in Obesity Prevention: A Framework to Inform Decision Making. 

Prevention Institute, with funding from Kaiser Permanente, wrote Addressing the Intersection: Preventing Violence and Promoting Healthy Eating and Active Living to provide guidance and deepen the understanding of the inter-relationship between violence and healthy eating and activity.  Paper also provides findings and recommendations to practitioners and advocates in their work to prevent chronic disease in communities heavily impacted by violence. 

The Center of Excellence for Training and Research Translation offers a variety of web-based trainings designed specifically for public health practitioners working in nutrition, physical activity, obesity and chronic disease prevention programs. 

Healthy Eating Active Communities wrote Nutrition and Physical Activity in California: the Landscape of Funding and the Role of State and Local Public Health Departments. 

This research brief by Active Living Research presents an overview of findings demonstrating the potential impact of infrastructure investments and other transportation programs on walking and bicycling for transportation, and on related health outcomes.  It focuses on public transit, greenways and trails, school-related infrastructure and programs, pedestrian and bicycle facilities, and efforts to manage car traffic.  Click to view research brief. 

The Health Care Sector and Providers Can Play a Role in Preventing Childhood Obesity (September 2004) published by the Institute of Medicine.

A collection of resources by the US Dept. of Agriculture on the topic of childhood obesity.

Emerging Local Food Purchasing Initiatives in Northern California 

Farm to Hospital. Supporting Local Agriculture and Improving Health Care

The O Word: Why the Focus on Obesity is Harmful to our Health published by the Prevention Institute. Focusing on the obese and overweight individual alone is not helping us address the broader social and economic issues that influence people's lives. This paper discusses strategies to remove us from a focus on the O word and from blaming the individual and their condition.

The Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University and the Brookings Institution are pleased to announce the release of the newest volume of their jointly published journal, The Future of Children, Childhood Obesity (Vol. 16, No. 1). This issue features nine articles on the high and rising rates of overweight and obesity among U.S. children, presenting evidence on the multiple causes, consequences, and methods of dealing with the growing problem.

American Academy of Pediatrics' Obesity and Related Co-morbidities Coding Fact Sheet for Primary Care Pediatricians

Reducing Risk of Childhood Overweight Among Immigrant Families from Asia. In collaboration with county staff, the University of California Berkeley Cooperative Extension used focus groups to identify the needs and interests of non-English speaking food stamp recipients about childhood overweight. The results of the focus groups were used to design a series of culturally sensitive and relevant educational materials that can help immigrant parents understand how they can adapt to a new environment and food supply in a way that will foster the health and welfare of their children.  Materials in both high and low resolution files are currently available for download in Cambodian, Chinese, Hmong, Korean, Laotian, Vietnamese, and English.

Preventing Chronic Diseases: Investing Wisely in Health. Fact sheet on preventing obesity and chronic disease through good nutrition and physical activity.