Congratulations to Somerville, Massachusetts, Washington DC and 7 other cities!

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation identified them as national innovators in the fight against childhood obesity. The honor comes with a cash payout from RWJF’s $44 million Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities program which hopes to spread fat-busting social innovations to 70 more communities.

Somerville attacked the scourge on many fronts. The city repainted crosswalks and added bike lanes. Public schools shelved deep fryers and replaced canned fruits with fresh produce. Elementary school kids maintained vegetable gardens on school grounds, and the Rec. Department offered low-cost dance classes.

As a result, Somerville 8-year olds gained one pound less than children in a control group over the course of a school year, according to Tufts nutritionist Christina Economos.

That’s not bad in a community where 44% of the kids are overweight or at risk to become so, and public health officials believe the gains will increase over time.

Since 66% of Somerville students hail from low-income families and half do not speak English in the home, there is hope the innovations can be reproduced in other locations that have been hit hard by the epidemic.

In the nation’s capital, the Summit Health Institute for Research and Education, along with 6 local agencies and community groups will receive $400,000 from RWJF to focus their battle against childhood obesity in Wards 7 and 8.

According to the RWJF Web site, Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities is a national program whose goal is to “implement healthy eating and active living policy- and environmental-change initiatives that can support healthier communities” across the US.

The program emphasizes reaching “children who are at highest risk for obesity on the basis of race/ethnicity, income and/or geographic location.”

The familiar metaphor about tightening one’s belt during hard times may be a bit misleading, public health experts warn. There is growing concern in fact that the Great Economic Crisis of 2008 will promote further expansion of America’s already plump waistline.

Faced with shrinking cash on hand and increasing food prices, tens of millions of American consumers are likely to turn to inexpensive but calorie-leaden meals such as fast food or macaroni and cheese.

“All evidence suggests that obesity is the toxic consequence of a failing economic environment,” Adam Drewnowski, an epidemiologist at the University of Washington, told MSNBC.

Drewnowski’s most recent investigation of the matter showed for example that obesity rates were 5 times higher in poorer sections of Seattle than in its tonier suburbs.
 
The disheartening trend has already begun. According to a survey published last week by Hormel Foods, 60% of US households have cut back on either the quality or the quantity of purchased food during the past year.

“It is quite possible to spend less and eat more,” Drewnowski added. “The very cheapest foods are calorie-rich and nutrient-poor. Because they contain refined grains, sugars and fats, they also taste good and, of course, are easy to come by.”

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one third of US children and adults and children are obese, but recently the incidence of obesity had begun to stabilize, especially among those younger than age 20. But even that modestly positive development is unlikely to be maintained.

“Now that we are all poor, the rates will go up again,” Drewnowski told MSNBC. “I predict an increase that will become apparent in about three years.”

Congratulations to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation which this week celebrated the 25th anniversary of one of its most successful initiatives, the Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program (AMFDP).

Harold Amos, PhD

AMFDP is designed to increase “the number of individuals from historically underrepresented groups who achieve senior-level rank in academic medicine.”  It is based at Indiana University. Each year, AMFDP awards up to twelve 4-year postdoctoral research grants to physicians from disadvantaged backgrounds who want to establish careers in academic medicine.  Scholars receive an annual stipend of $75,000, and another $30,000 goes to their medical school.

AMFDP has graduated 181 scholars to date. More than 80% remain in academic medicine, including 35 professors. Recently, Harold Amos Scholar Dr. Lisa Cooper received a Genius Award from the MacArthur Foundation for her efforts to improve communication between patients and physicians.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has invested more than $110 million in the project since its inception in 1983. The Foundation renamed the project 5 years ago to honor Harold Amos, PhD, the first African American chair of a department at Harvard Medical School and a founding advisor for the program.

More information on AMFDP can be found here.