The United Neighborhood Centers of Milwaukee’s Childhood Obesity Prevention Project (UNCOM) has been awarded a $360,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to improve opportunities for physical activity and access to affordable healthy foods for children and families in Milwaukee. Based on a rigorous selection process that drew more than 500 proposals from across the country, Milwaukee is one of 41 sites selected for the RWJF Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities initiative.

In Milwaukee, where 29 percent of low-income children ages 2 to 5 and 27,400 youth are overweight or obese, UNCOM partners will focus on implementing policy development related to food and beverage vending, sustainable urban agricultural practices and stewardship of land use, and culturallyappropriate physical activity and active living across the lifespan.

“The Milwaukee Childhood Obesity Prevention Project grant will help empower UNCOM member agencies and the Milwaukee community to prevent childhood obesity,” said Dr. David E. Nelson, Fellow and Instructor at the Center for Healthy Communities at the Medical College of Wisconsin who will serve as the project director. “With our partners in Milwaukee, we’re committed to making a difference in the lives of our most vulnerable youths.”

“To reverse this epidemic, communities are going to have to rally around their kids and provide the opportunities they need to be healthy,” said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A., president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “Through this project, UNCOM and its partners are doing what it takes to make sure children lead better lives.”

Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities is a $33 million national program and RWJF’s largest investment to date in community-based solutions to preventing childhood obesity. With nine Leading Sites chosen in late 2008, the program now spans 50 communities from Seattle to Puerto Rico. All are targeting improvements in local policies and their community environment—changes that research indicates could help children eat healthier and be more active, and thereby prevent obesity. Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities is a cornerstone of RWJF’s $500 million commitment to reverse the country’s childhood obesity epidemic by 2015.

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Popular Interests In This Article: Childrens Health, Healthy Kids Healthy Communities, Obesity, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation