2. What you will learn:
• What is obesity? What is overweight?
• How does Wayne County stack up against the
rest of Indiana and the United States?
• What obesity programs already exist in Wayne
County?
• What are some community approaches that
the UW-WV could apply here in Wayne
County?
3. What is overweight/obesity?
• In general terms: Both overweight and obesity
are when one’s body mass index (BMI) is
unhealthy.
• Body mass index is a measure of weight in
relation to height.
4. Defining overweight/obesity
in children
Obese Having a BMI at or above the 95th percentile for same age/sex.
Overweight Having a BMI between the 85th and 95th percentiles for same age/sex.
So, in theory, wouldn’t 15 percent of the youth
population be either overweight or obese?
— No. The “percentile” is based on population
surveys from the 1960s and 1970s.
5. Childhood obesity/overweight:
Ages 10-17
0 10 20 30 40
Wayne County*
Indiana
United States
Obese
Overweight or
Obese
Sources:
— 2007 National Survey of Children’s Health.
— Whitewater Valley Childhood Obesity Task Force.
* Information is outdated.
6. Childhood overweight/obesity:
Ages 2-5 (low income)
0 10 20 30 40
Wayne County
Indiana
United States
Obese
Overweight or
obese
Source: 2008 Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance System survey
7. What’s Wayne County doing?
• Whitewater Valley Childhood Obesity Task
Force
– Includes physicians, school nurses, dieticians,
pediatric nurses practitioners and other health
professionals.
– STOP Program (Stop Taking On Pounds).
• 12-week program for children ages 7-17.
• Focuses on nutrition education, exercise, and
behavioral counseling.
8. What’s Wayne County doing? (cont.)
• Recent programs in the schools
– Starr Elementary received a $1,000 grant last year
to hold a day-long event at the school’s gym to
promote healthy living.
– Centerville High School students in 2008 organized
“Fitness Fiestas.”
9. Community approaches
• What does the Centers for Disease Control
recommend?
– Farmer’s Markets.
– Encouraging breastfeeding.
– Improved access to outdoor recreation.
– Bike paths and sidewalks.
– Enhanced safety.
– Community coalitions.
10. What other United Ways are doing
• Selective approaches
– Helping fund new
recreation trails.
(Bloomington, Ill.)
– “Wellness, Academics
and You.” (Birmingham,
Al.)
– New Orleans vegetable
garden.
Tarrant County (Texas) United
Way’s Fit Future program.
11. Comprehensive approaches
• “Go For Health” – United Way of Santa Cruz
County.
• Greater Portland (Maine) “Healthy Weight
Initiative.”
• “FitFuture” in Tarrant County, Texas.
