District leaders working together, implementing action plan to make D.C. a healthier place to live, work, learn and play 

More than 100 local government leaders, local stakeholders and public health experts from across the country met on May 10 and 11 to examine strategies aimed at reducing the high obesity rates in the District of Columbia (D.C.).

The meeting, hosted by Leadership for Healthy Communities (LHC), a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, encouraged D.C. government leaders and stakeholders to coordinate across agencies and departments to ensure the successful implementation of the District-wide obesity prevention plan. Entitled “Healthy Eating, Active Living D.C. 2010: Implementing Citywide Policies to Prevent Obesity,” the goal of the meeting was to engage the relevant stakeholders, including public health, transportation, planning, parks and recreation and education, and to provide them with key information necessary for making informed policy decisions around childhood obesity prevention.

More than 250 state and local policy-makers and childhood obesity prevention advocates participated in Leadership for Healthy Communities' (LHC) second childhood obesity prevention summit, which was held May 7-8, 2009, in the nation's capital. The summit theme was "Building a Bridge to Policy Action."

The event called on policy leaders nationwide to advance healthy eating and active living options in their communities.  

At an October 2008 meeting to help develop a healthier Indian Country, American Indian and Alaska Native leaders stressed the importance of native food traditions and ceremonies and they emphasized working with outside communities like state and local governments. The healthy communities strategy meeting held in Phoenix on October 19, 2008, was co-hosted by Leadership for Healthy Communities (LHC), and the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI).

More than 70 American Indian and Alaska Native leaders participated in the event, an impressive turn-out for a Sunday pre-conference session. The event, titled "Building Healthy Communities: An Integrated Approach," was part of NCAI's annual conference.

Marjorie Paloma of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provided an opening statement. Tribal and other government representatives as well as NCAI and LHC also gave remarks. Three panels focused on food systems, the built environment and best practices in Indian Country.

Food Systems panelists from the Tohono O'odham Community Action (TOCA) began their session by simply asking: "If you are completely dependent on food from outside of your nation, what does sovereignty really mean?" Rebuilding traditional and sustainable food systems from the ground up is a challenge, TOCA representatives said, "but traditional native foods have been shown to regulate, manage and prevent type 2 diabetes."

More than 40 community leaders from across the nation convened in Washington, D.C. on June 5-6 to develop strategies on how to prevent obesity among African-American children. Hosted by Leadership for Healthy Communities and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, the meeting has spurred the development of a strategies toolkit designed to help reverse childhood obesity rates among African Americans

The meeting highlighted the critical role of policy and policy-makers in promoting physical activity and healthy eating. Participants developed an outline of policy approaches for national, state, county and local leaders. Participants included elected and appointed government officials, educators and leaders from organizations such as the National Alliance of Black School Educators, U.S. Conference of Mayors, National Black Caucus of State Legislators, the National Medical Association, Kaiser Permanente, the National Urban League and many others.

As a result of Leadership for Healthy Communities' first biannual retreat of the year, some grantees vowed to increase awareness of how advertising and the social environment impact children's health, according to results of an evaluation survey. That action item was just one of many that came out of the three-day event, which was held in Miami from March 5-7.

The Leadership for Healthy Communities (LHC) Biannual Miami Retreat was designed to educate about policies and practices impacting childhood obesity from a healthy eating, active living and social environment perspective.

Leadership for Healthy Communities convened its inaugural Childhood Obesity Prevention Summit: Connecting Leaders to Support Healthy Children on October 18-19, 2007 in Washington, D.C. Elected and appointed officials and other policy leaders from across the country and all levels of government met to share their approaches to preventing childhood obesity and to discuss innovative partnerships, promising practices and policy-relevant research that can support efforts to create healthier communities.

Key themes and messages that emerged from the conference include:

• The need to share promising practices and encourage peer education;
• The importance of leadership at all levels;
• Strengthening linkages between research and policy; and
• The power of collaboration and partnership.

Over 180 people participated in the summit and were treated to a host of speakers and sessions addressing the key themes. The unprecedented level of participation from policy leaders at all levels of government reflects a growing national commitment to creating healthier communities and changing the lives of generations of children. This summit brought leaders together to galvanize a movement. The hard work and determination of leaders from across the country to prevent childhood obesity is invaluable. None of us can stop this epidemic on our own, but all of us can do it – if we work together.