ChildrensFoodEnvironmentStateIndicatorReport,2011.PDFVIP

Children’s Food Environment State Indicator Report, 2011 The current childhood obesity epidemic is the result of many factors and may not be resolved by any single action. Rather, resolution of the childhood obesity epidemic will require concerted action across many sectors and settings such as child care facilities, communities, and schools. The 2011 Children’s Food Environment State Indicator Report highlights selected behaviors, environments, and policies that affect childhood obesity through support of healthy eating. These indicators represent opportunities for action. Specific action steps and resources are detailed in the National Action Guide at /obesity/. The environments to which children are exposed in their daily lives - schools, child care facilities, and their communities - can influence the healthfulness of their diets. With the high prevalence of childhood obesity in the U.S., supporting healthy food environments is a key strategy to reach the public health goals of reducing childhood obesity and improving nutrition. National and state-specific information is reported in the Children’s Food Environment State Indicator Report for both behavioral indicators and policy and environmental indicators. Indicators selected for this report had data available for most states. However, individual states may have additional information collected through state-wide surveys and/or policies or regulations enacted outside the monitoring period that can augment the data in this report and thus be used to further inform decision makers. On a state and local level, parents, school and child care staff, health professionals, state officials, and community members play a role in supporting policy and environmental change to ensure children and their families can choose more healthful foods. BEHAVIORAL INDICATORS –The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends limiting the consumption 1 of added sugar amon