Creating a Healthy Community
Fast Facts About Childhood Obesity
- 30% of all children ages 10-17 in Ohio are overweight or obese
- 39% of Ohio's African-American children are overweight or obese
- 40% of our nation's Hispanic population is overweight or obese
Source: Center for CLosing the Health Gap's Do RIght!® web site.
Center for Closing the Health Gap's Dwight Tillery is working with Cincinnati Children's to mend the gap in care among the underserved.
Dr. Lisa Simpson directs the Child Policy Research Center at Cincinnati Children's, which provides much of the research for the Center for Closing the Health Gap's Initiatives.
Our partnership with Center for Closing the Health Gap makes good health a community priority.
More than 17 percent of our nation’s children between the ages of 6 and 19 are overweight or obese. *
Obesity has tripled since 1980. It’s an epidemic that will afflict an entire generation of children with health complications, many of which start in childhood.
The problem is even more pervasive among children in the poor and underserved communities of Cincinnati. Cincinnati Children’s is working with the Center for Closing the Health Gap (CCHG) to address the growing problem of obesity and the related health issues that plague these communities.
The Minority Difference
“Health problems and illness are disproportionately higher for minority groups than for the majority population,” says Dwight Tillery, CCHG president and CEO. “Our mission is to address these racial and ethnic health disparities through education, advocacy and outreach.”
Cincinnati Children’s provides CCHG with staff time and expertise as well as financial, research and clinical support for their health promotion efforts. In turn, the Center helps the hospital reach out to children and families in minority communities who need help to improve their health.
One activity that the hospital helps fund is the Center’s annual Health Expo, a community-wide event aimed at raising awareness of health disparities in minority communities and teaching the public about adopting a healthier lifestyle. Cincinnati Children’s staff volunteer with free health screenings.
A Source for Facts
Lisa Simpson, MB, BCh, MPH, a professor and pediatrician, directs the Child Policy Research Center at Cincinnati Children’s. The Center provides research and guidance to the CCHG and works with them on the Do Right!® initiative, aimed at improving health habits and reducing obesity and overweight in minority neighborhoods.
The two organizations collaborated on a recent advertising and awareness campaign. Using the headline, “Are we feeding our children to death?,” the project received a great deal of media and community attention. Cincinnati Children’s and the CCHG developed the messages and imagery for the campaign based on research they conducted in the community and information gathered by the Child Policy Research Center.
“It’s a perfect example of how our two organizations can support an initiative that’s going to have a long-term impact on the quality of care and health of children in this community,” Tillery says.
* According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2003–06.
