Transportation, Obesity, and Community Food Security

Posted by on August 13, 2010

Connecting the Dots: Transportation, Obesity, and Community Food Security

On July 15th, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Transportation for America, The Convergence Partnership, and PolicyLink gathered in Washington, D.C. to host a conference titled Keeping Kids Moving: How Equitable Transportation Policy Can Prevent Childhood Obesity.  Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC) attended the event, and the diversity of participation at the conference demonstrates the varied ways in which transportation impacts other aspects of society, including obesity and community food security.

In his opening remarks, the director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation childhood obesity team, Dwayne Proctor, noted that while parents play a role in addressing the national problem of childhood obesity, their efforts would be most effective in a supportive environment.  Proctor explained that access to healthy foods is an important consideration in addressing childhood obesity.  Building on the link between community food security and obesity, founder and CEO of PolicyLink Angela Glover Blackwell highlighted the significant racial disparities that must be recognized in order to truly tackle the problem.  Twenty-nine percent of white children in the U.S. are obese or overweight compared to 35% of black children and 40% of Hispanic children.

In addition to an understanding among organizations of the necessity of addressing the obesity epidemic through transportation and the built environment, federal agencies are also on board.  Dr. Howard Koh, Assistant Secretary for Health at the Department of Health and Human Services, oversees the nation’s Healthy People Initiative and discussed that the goals for 2020 include the creation of “social and physical environments that promote good health for all.”

To learn more about CFSC’s work on the intersection between transportation and community food security, click here.

http://www.foodsecurity.org/pubs.html#homeward