AUSTIN, September 8 - Childhood obesity is increasing at such an alarming rate in Texas that the next generation of children could be the first to grow up less healthy than their parents, a professor has warned.

Marcia Ory, a Regents professor at the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health, made her comments as Texas learned it would be one of three states awarded $2 million by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to evaluate the effectiveness of childhood obesity prevention policies.

The grant will allow for a large study of underserved populations, including the Hispanic population along the Texas-Mexico border region.

Ory said it would also provide an opportunity to bring the best of research to a real-world policy issue that is affecting the lives of millions of Texas school children.
“It is critically important to address policy issues that can have a positive effect on improving healthy eating and increasing safe and accessible places for physical activity in order to reduce the alarming trends toward childhood obesity in our state,” Ory said.

“If we don’t address this, the next generation of Texas children may very well be the first generation to grow up less healthy than their parents.”

The RWJF announcement came during Obesity Awareness Week.

And, to coincide with Obesity Awareness Week, Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples has announced the launch of the “Good Grades Start with Good Nutrition” campaign.

And, also coinciding with Obesity Awareness Week, the Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley announced it would hold a discussion on Wednesday about the “flip side” of the same coin - one out of every five Texas children is medically obese, while one out of four lives in a household without enough food.

The RWJF grant will allow for the creation of Live Smart Texas, a statewide coalition of more than 80 organizations, including state agencies, policy institutes, academic institutions, community organizations and advocacy groups committed to eliminating childhood obesity in Texas.

Among the key players in the project are the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health, the Michael & Susan Dell Center for Advancement of Healthy Living at The University of Texas School of Public Health Austin Regional Campus, and the Texas Health Institute.
Two key childhood obesity prevention policies will be evaluated: Texas Safe Routes to School program, a program encouraging students to be more physically active by walking to school, and food allocation package revisions administered through Texas Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition program.

The purpose of the grants is to inform decision makers about the effectiveness of these two childhood obesity prevention policies. These studies will also help local, state and national policymakers identify policies that work toward promoting children’s healthy eating and increased physical activity.

Co-leading the program will be Deanna Hoelscher, Ph.D., R.D., professor at The University of Texas School of Public Health Austin Regional Campus and director of the Michael & Susan Dell Center for Advancement of Healthy Living, and Ory. Project director will be Diane Dowdy, Ph.D., from the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health.

“This grant is historic in that it brings together researchers from both the University of Texas School of Public Health and Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health, as well as a statewide consortium of other academic institutions, community groups and stakeholders in a focused effort to address one of the most significant public health issues of our time—childhood obesity,” Hoelscher said.

“In a state as large and diverse as Texas, it is essential that we all work together to leverage our resources.”
Camille D. Miller, president and CEO of Texas Health Institute, a health policy think-tank and project collaborator, said Texas won the research grant because of the unique state-level support and collaboration. “This kind of partnership bodes well for solving the obesity challenge facing all Texas communities,” Miller said.

Texas Department of State Health Services Commissioner David L. Lakey, said the grant will build on previous work conducted in Texas to combat childhood obesity, including the School Physical Activity and Nutrition (SPAN) survey, a statewide surveillance system that monitors the prevalence of obesity in school-aged children.

States previously awarded similar grants from RWJF were Arkansas, Delaware and West Virginia. Other states named with Texas to receive the current grants were New York and Mississippi.

Meanwhile, Ag Commissioner Staples said the “Good Grades Start with Good Nutrition” campaign will encourage parents and students to take advantage of healthy and affordable meals served at Texas schools.
 
“School meals are better than ever before. Today’s school breakfasts and lunches include a tasty array of fresh fruit, vegetables and baked meats,” Staples said.

“The Texas Department of Agriculture is committed to encouraging students to follow the 3Es for healthy living – Education, Exercise and Eating right, and we will continue to work with our Healthy Students = Healthy Families advisory team and with individual schools across the state to ensure students are offered nutritious meal choices at school.”
 
Staples said the “Good Grades Start with Good Nutrition” entails a set of public service announcements designed for TV and radio, in both English and Spanish, an editorial for print publication and various school appearances in which the Commissioner will speak with students.
 
Meanwhile, RGV Food Bank Executive Director Terri Drefke said her group would highlight the paradox between hunger and obesity in a discussion on childhood nutrition at its offices in McAllen on Wednesday, starting at 3 p.m.

“Texas has a child nutrition problem with two faces – obesity and hunger. One out of every five Texas children is medically obese, and one out of four lives in a household without enough food. These problems are “flip sides” of the same coin – a lack of access to healthy food in the home,” the RGV Food Bank said, in a statement.

In conjunction with Hunger Action Month, Drefke said, local advocates will discuss how those involved in hunger relief can combat child hunger, and illustrate how through partnerships with local representatives and industry, Food Bank RGV agency clients can have access needed to put the right food in the right hands. A donation of $18,000 will also be made on behalf of the Food Bank’s customers following the local Help End Hunger H-E-B Campaign.