With the recognition this month of National Public Health Week, this is a great time to remember the importance of communities in our efforts to address the obesity epidemic. Many cities and neighborhoods have made strides to increase available options for healthy activities, but there remains a great need across the country to do more to improve health. The Affordable Care Act includes new requirements for the nation's 2,900 nonprofit hospitals that seek federal tax-exempt status to undertake regular community health needs assessments (CHNAs) and to devise implementation strategies to provide "community benefits" to address the identified needs.

With obesity affecting more than one-third of adults and nearly one in five children in the United States, I expect that obesity will certainly be identified as a significant community health need and will be included in the implementation strategies of nonprofit hospitals.

The CHNA requirement presents a critical opportunity to address obesity at the local level and, with the value of the hospital tax benefit estimated to be in the billions of dollars, there is a lot at stake. The challenge will be to empower hospitals to build efficient and evidence-based programs for addressing obesity while avoiding common pitfalls that can undermine their attempts, such as weight stigma and unrealistic expectations.

To help, the STOP Obesity Alliance released today five research-based, consensus recommendations to help guide nonprofit hospitals as they develop programs to address obesity in their communities. The Alliance encourages nonprofit hospitals to base programs designed to overcome and prevent obesity on the following core principles:

• Redefining Success: Promote the use of a sustained loss of five to 10 percent of current weight as a key measure of health improvement to judge the effectiveness of weight reduction interventions.
• Encourage Innovation and Best Practices in Obesity Treatment: Identify and disseminate successful or promising practices for interventions.  
• Address and Reduce Stigma as a Barrier to Improving Health Outcomes: Cultivate a positive environment by promoting awareness and open discussion among health professionals, opinion leaders, role models and the public of the harmful impact of stigmatizing people affected by obesity. Promote interventions that provide support for sustained weight loss and go beyond recognizing the role of personal responsibility.
• Broaden, Intensify and Coordinate the Research Agenda for Obesity: Encourage an interdisciplinary research environment that addresses the obesity epidemic as a result of a complex interplay of biological, genetic, behavioral, cultural, environmental, social, policy and economic factors.
• Encourage Physical Activity for Improved Health: Encourage interventions and create environments and systems that support active living as well as moderate-vigorous physical activity to improve health, independent of weight loss.  

There are many ways that nonprofit hospitals can use these recommendations to tailor community interventions around obesity. For example, whereas obesity initiatives are often paralyzed by expecting very large weight-loss outcomes, nonprofit hospitals should be encouraged to know that programs that help promote relatively small weight losses can be extremely valuable for health improvements. Or, hospitals may choose to make "community building" investments, such as the development of evidence-based, community health-related infrastructure, such as recreation centers, parks and bike lanes, which could be of benefit to all members of the community, regardless of weight.

Our STOP Obesity Alliance team is grateful for the review and collaboration of our Steering Committee members in developing these recommendations to share with the nonprofit hospital community. In addition, we thank our George Washington University colleagues Sara Rosenbaum, Maureen Byrnes and Amber Morley Rieke for their help and guidance in this process as well.

I encourage you to review these recommendations and stay engaged with the Alliance as we explore the area of community benefit in the coming months.

Best,

Several Alliance Steering Committee and Associate Members were featured in news stories this month including:

• American College of Sports Medicine and Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in USA TODAY, "Alabama Family Is Making a Run at a Healthy Lifestyle."
• American Heart Association in HealthDay, "Nearly 30 Percent of Americans Have High Blood Pressure: CDC."
• American Institute for Cancer Research in HealthDay, "Strides Made in Preventing Cancer, But Challenges Remain: Report."
• Rebecca Puhl, PhD in Reuters, "Patients Often Biased Against Fat Doctors, Too" and on CTPost.com, "Food Addiction: When Being Full Leaves You Feeling Empty."

STOP Sponsors National Employee Wellness Months, Calls for Support

STOP to Unveil New Resource Kit at Philadelphia Health Initiative Event     

The Philadelphia Health Initiative (PHI) will host "Community Leaders Event: Helping Parents Talk to Kids About Weight and Health," Wednesday, May 15 from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm at Thomas Jefferson University and the Alliance will unveil a new resource kit for community leaders as part of the event. The kit utilizes STOP's Weigh In guide, "Talking to Your Children About Weight and Health" and will enable leaders to host small group discussions with local parents about how to talk to kids about weight and health. To view the detailed agenda of the event or to register, click here. 

STOP Welcomes New Associate Members

The Alliance is happy to welcome two new Associate Members to the coalition, the American Institute for Cancer Research, a cancer charity that fosters research on the relationship of nutrition, physical activity and weight  management to cancer risk; and the fit initiative, a national initiative, developed by Sanford Health and WebMD, that is activating healthy choices and actions for children and families. Interested in becoming involved in STOP? Email obesity@gwu.edu.

OAC Announces Re-Launch of "Your Weight Matters" Campaign

Obesity Action Coalition (OAC) announced the re-launch of the "Your Weight Matters Campaign," which aims to encourage a dialogue between individuals and their healthcare provider about weight and to educate individuals about the impact of weight on health. Joe Nadglowski, OAC President and CEO, commented that discussing weight can be difficult and that the "Your Weigh Matters Campaign" offers resources to prepare participants for the conversation. Click here to view the resources.    

Updated Bariatric Surgery Guidelines Released by TOS and ASMBS

The Obesity Society (TOS) and the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) worked with the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists to release new bariatric surgery guidelines, which state that even people affected by slight obesity could be candidates for weight-loss surgery. The groups recommend that eligibility for bariatric surgery be expanded to include people affected by mild to moderate obesity with diabetes or metabolic syndrome. Click here to view the updated guidelines.   

ACSM's 60th Annual Meeting and 4th World Congress on Exercise is Medicine

American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) will hold its 60th Annual Meeting and 4th World Congress on Exercise is Medicine May 28 to June 1 in Indianapolis, Ind. Attendees of more than 70 disciplines will come together to share new clinical techniques, scientific advancements and cutting-edge research in sports medicine, exercise science, physical activity and public health. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Assistant Secretary for Health, Howard Koh, MD, MPH, will be the featured speaker at the conference. Click here to register.

2013 Cardiometabolic Health Congress Opens Registration  

The 2013 Cardiometabolic Health Congress (CMHC) will take place October 2-5 in Boston, Mass. The conference will provide the most effective, current strategies for the prevention, diagnosis, and management of Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, obesity and related comorbidities. Members of the Alliance will receive a $100 discount on CMHC meeting registration. Click here to register for the event.

April 23, 2013

Family Practice News Digital Network

By Sherry Boschert

A study on weight-loss interventions found that highlighting individuals' and families' strengths when it comes to managing their weight and living healthy lives was more effective than conventional approaches that focus on barriers, problems and concerns these individuals and their families may face. Study participants were asked to describe a time when they felt good about the health of their child and his or her living habits.

AMA Launches Diabetes, Heart Disease Programs 

April 22, 2013

MedPage Today

By David Pittman

The American Medical Association (AMA) announced a partnership with the YMCA in an effort to combat cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. The groups hope to increase physician referral of prediabetic patients to evidence-based diabetes prevention programs offered by the Y.

Legal Developments to Protect Obese Individuals from Discrimination 

April 18, 2013

Rudd Radar

According to a paper published in the journal Obesity, a recent amendment to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (known as ADA) will have a positive impact on weight-based discrimination. Due to the amendment, courts and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission now protect severely obese people from discrimination based on actual or perceived disability in the employment context.