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Mississippi Awarded $2 Million Childhood Obesity Prevention Grant

State Universities will evaluate the Impact of the Mississippi Healthy Students Act

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has awarded a five-year, $2 million grant to the Center for Mississippi Health Policy to evaluate the impact of the Mississippi Healthy Students Act on childhood obesity in the state.  The Center will direct the project in collaboration with three Mississippi universities.

In recognition of the state’s high rates of childhood obesity, the Mississippi Legislature enacted the Healthy Students Act in 2007 to improve nutrition, physical activity, and health education in public schools.  The Office of Healthy Schools in the State Department of Education is working closely with local schools to implement the new policies through its coordinated school health program.

“There is a strong connection between health and academic achievement” State Superintendent of Education Dr. Hank Bounds said.  “Mississippi’s new policies will create an environment in our schools that promotes healthy lifestyles for children and prepares them to be fit, healthy, and ready to learn.”

The Center for Mississippi Health Policy will use Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant funds, together with funding from the Bower Foundation, to comprehensively evaluate the effectiveness of state policies aimed at preventing childhood obesity and to coordinate with similar evaluation projects in other states.  Other states receiving funding under this initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to evaluate childhood obesity prevention policies include Arkansas, West Virginia, Delaware, Texas, and New York.

“This grant will help Mississippi determine which policies have been effective so that we can target our resources more effectively,” said Dr. Ed Thompson, Mississippi’s State Health Officer. 

The research will be conducted through three state universities.  Principal investigators are Dr. Linda Southward from the Social Science Research Center at Mississippi State University, Dr. Teresa Carithers from the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences at the University of Mississippi, and Dr. Jerome Kolbo from the College of Health at the University of Southern Mississippi.

“Mississippi was awarded this grant because of the commitment and collaboration among policymakers, state agencies, private foundations, and universities in the state to address childhood obesity,” said Therese Hanna, Executive Director of the Center for Mississippi Health Policy.

About 95 percent of adult Mississippians think that childhood obesity is a serious problem in Mississippi, according to a survey conducted by researchers at the College of Health at the University of Southern Mississippi.  In addition, the survey showed that Mississippi adults strongly support public policies that will address the problem by improving school environments.

To download an Issue Brief describing the project, CLICK HERE.

For additional information on Mississippi initiatives to address childhood obesity:

http://www.mshealthpolicy.com/ChildObesityIntiatives.htm

http://www.healthyschoolsms.org/

ABOUT THE CENTER FOR MISSISSIPPI HEALTH POLICY:

The Center for Mississippi Health Policy (http://www.mshealthpolicy.com) is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit organization located in Jackson, Mississippi, that provides objective information to inform health policy decisions.  The Center’s work involves communicating research, examining health status and health care delivery trends, and analyzing relevant health policy issues affecting Mississippi.  Examples of recent projects of the Center include an economic analysis of the University of Mississippi Medical Center, research on state initiatives to address childhood obesity, an analysis of the state’s trauma care system, a review of issues associated with the reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), a study of options available to Mississippi in establishing a statewide health data system, and a detailed examination of children’s health coverage in Mississippi.

ABOUT THE ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION:

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country.  As the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change.  For more than 35 years the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves.  When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime.  For more information, visit www.rwjf.org.

ABOUT THE BOWER FOUNDATION:

The Bower Foundation is committed to the promotion of fundamental improvements in the health status of all Mississippians through the creation, expansion, and support of quality healthcare initiatives.  Given the vast health challenges facing Mississippians, the Bower Foundation directs its funds and energies into making sustainable, systemic improvements in the state's health and education infrastructures. Through strong, substantive partnerships with organizations that share its vision, the Foundation leverages limited resources into grants that support mutual goals of better health outcomes and better health policy.