The High Obesity Program: Overview of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Cooperative Extension Services Efforts to Address Obesity.

The burden of obesity and other chronic diseases negatively affects the nation's health, businesses, economy, and military readiness. The prevalence is higher in certain geographic locations. Beginning in 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity awarded funding to 11 land-grant universities through the High Obesity Program. This program implemented evidence- and practice-based strategies with a goal to increase access to nutritious foods and places to be physically active in counties in which the prevalence of obesity among adults was more than 40%. In these counties, funded land-grant universities developed partnerships and collaborations to work with community organizations, public health agencies, and other stakeholders to promote policy and environmental changes that address obesity. Data were collected by the Cooperative Extension Service in each selected county with technical assistance from land-grand universities and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 2 million people were reached by the nutrition and physical activity policy, systems, and environmental interventions implemented.

The relationship between physical activity and diet and young children's cognitive development: A systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: Given the high prevalence of suboptimal nutrition and low activity levels in children, we systematically reviewed the literature on the relationship between physical activity and dietary patterns and cognitive development in early childhood (six months to five years). METHODS: In February 2016, we conducted two different searches of MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and ERIC. Each search included either physical activity (including gross motor skills) or diet terms, and neurocognitive development outcome terms. Included studies were in English, published since 2005, and of any study design in which the physical activity or diet measure occurred prior to age five. RESULTS: For physical activity, twelve studies (5 cross-sectional, 3 longitudinal and 4 experimental) were included. Eleven studies reported evidence suggesting that physical activity or gross motor skills are related to cognition or learning. Both acute bouts and longer term exposures showed benefit. For diet, eight studies were included consisting of secondary analyses from longitudinal cohort studies. A healthier dietary pattern was associated with better cognitive outcomes in all studies, although some of the reported associations were weak and the measures used varied across the studies. CONCLUSIONS: Physical activity and healthy diets in early childhood are associated with better cognitive outcomes in young children. The paucity of literature and the variability in the type and quality of measures used highlight the need for more rigorous research. Given that the early childhood years are critical for both obesity prevention and neurocognitive development, evidence that the same healthy behaviors could promote both should inform future interventions.

Racial/ethnic differences in obesity trends among young low-income children.

INTRODUCTION: Racial/ethnic differences in recent obesity trends have not been reported among young low-income children. The purpose of this study is to examine trends in obesity prevalence from 1998 through 2011 by race/ethnicity among low-income children aged 2-4 years. METHODS: The study was based on measured weight and height records of 29,040,851 participants of federally funded health and nutrition programs from 30 states and the District of Columbia, which provided data each year from 1998 through 2011. More than 80% of data were collected through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, and about 50% of eligible children were included. In 2014, joinpoint regression was used to identify the inflection years when significant changes in obesity trends occurred and piecewise logistic regression was used to examine annual changes in obesity prevalence before and after the inflection years controlling for age, sex, and race/ethnicity. RESULTS: The overall obesity prevalence increased from 13.05% in 1998 to 15.21% in 2003, and decreased slightly to 14.74% in 2011. The increasing trends among non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, and Hispanic children began decreasing in 2003. Asian/Pacific Islander was the only racial/ethnic group with a continual decreasing trend in obesity prevalence from 1998 (14.34%) through 2011 (11.66%). Among American Indian/Alaska Native children, obesity prevalence consistently increased from 16.32% in 1998 to 21.11% in 2011, although the annual increases slowed since 2001. CONCLUSIONS: The study findings indicate modest recent declines in obesity prevalence for most racial/ethnic groups of low-income children aged 2-4 years. However, obesity prevalence remains high.