RWJ Teams With Clinton, AHA Initiative to Combat Childhood Obesity

The long-running TV comedy show Saturday Night Live lampooned former President Clinton during his 1992 presidential campaign by airing a sketch that showed a Clinton impersonator stuffing his face with McDonald's french fries while trying to connect with the American people on one of his daily jogs. Thirteen years and two terms in the White House later, Clinton did what some might call a "nutritional flip flop" by partnering with the American Heart Association to form the Alliance for a Healthier Generation in May 2005. The alliance's goal is to stop the rising prevalence of childhood obesity -- a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other ailments -- by 2010.

Last month, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation joined with the alliance to launch the Healthy Schools Program, a campaign that will take the fight against childhood obesity to schools across the nation, beginning with the 2006-07 school year.

"To halt the epidemic of childhood obesity, we don't need a tipping point," said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A., president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, in a news release about the program's launch. "We need a pivot point, and school is it."

The campaign will launch as a pilot program in 285 elementary, middle and high schools in 13 states. The schools chosen for the pilot, many of which serve populations at particular risk for obesity, will receive hands-on technical assistance and support as well as financial resources to help them improve the nutritional value of cafeteria food and vending machine products, increase physical activity among students, and provide wellness programs for faculty and staff.

But even schools not tapped to participate in the pilot phase of the program can benefit from some of the resources offered by the new campaign and from those already established by the alliance.

Chief among those resources is the alliance's Web site, which promotes healthy lifestyles by encouraging good eating habits and physical activity. One section of the site is aimed at children ages 9 to 13 and features such tools as interactive games, downloadable posters and "e-cards" to send to friends, challenging them to practice healthy eating and fitness behaviors. Another section lists resources and tips for parents and teachers, including how to