Half-a-Billion Dollars to Beat Obesity

April 4, 2007 — -- In an effort to combat rising rates of childhood obesity, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation announced Wednesday that it would commit at least $500 million over the next five years to tackle the problem.

The announcement means that more money than ever will be spent to try to reverse the epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States -- a goal that the foundation hopes to achieve by 2015.

The effort may not come a moment too soon. Today in the United States, about 25 million kids -- more than 33 percent of the country's children and adolescents -- are either overweight or at risk of becoming overweight.

The grant money is available to anyone with a good idea on how to curb the trend. Ideas on lifestyle modification, facilities for physical activity and school nutrition programs have already been proposed.

And the grant will focus on reaching kids and families in underserved communities -- in many ways, the epicenter of the nation's childhood obesity problem.

But even the foundation's officers say that $500 million is only a start when it comes to solving the growing crisis of kids who eat far too much -- and exercise far too little.

"This is the largest commitment we've ever made as a foundation," says Dr. James Marks, senior vice president and director of health programs for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

"But large as that is, we know it's not enough."

Depending on how it is spent, health experts say the money could have a giant initial impact.

"It's a huge potential," says Keith Ayoob, associate professor in the department of pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. "But it's going to be a tool, and like any tool, it can be used wisely or squandered."

Ayoob says it will be critical that the money is not used on only institutional programs but also on programs aimed at parents that ensure healthy lifestyle choices for children in their home environments.