By Crystal Swann
May 14, 2012

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, hosted the Weight of the Nation™ Conference May 7-9 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington (DC). Among the featured speakers was Conference of Mayors Vice President Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter.

During his remarks, Nutter first highlighted the challenges facing his city in its fight against obesity and hunger recognizing these two issues are intricately linked. "Hunger is real and it's on Philadelphia's streets and in Philadelphia's homes every day. Philadelphia has one of the highest rates of food insecurity in the country. According to the USDA, more than 400,000 people in Philadelphia are food insecure. Nearly 130,000 of those are children," said Nutter

On the obesity front, in Philadelphia, two-thirds of adults and 40 percent of children are overweight or obese and if a child is from a low-income family, the likelihood of being overweight or obese is greater. Currently, 49 perceny of children in poverty level families are overweight or obese.

But Nutter focused the majority of his remarks on the successes Philadelphia has achieved including adding supermarkets to low-income neighborhoods; adding 630 healthy corner stores through their Healthy Corner Store Initiative; and spearheading the movement for a healthier lifestyle through the Get Healthy Philly initiative.

"The Food Trust, Reinvestment Fund and Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition partnered with the Commonwealth to bring supermarkets to low-income urban and rural communities. We-ve created a Healthy Corner Store Network, providing incentives, training and marketing support to 630 corner stores and refrigerated shelving in 100 stores," remarked Nutter.

Additionally, the Fresh Food Financing Initiatives has provided funding for 88 fresh food retail projects in 34 Pennsylvania counties. This has created or preserved 5,000 jobs and improves access to healthy food for more than half a million people.

Through the "Get Healthy Philly" initiative, programs were started to provide fresh produce stands or carts with electronic benefit transfer machines to accept supplemental nutrition assistance program (formerly food stamp) dollars; community gardens were planted; and implemented one of the strictest menu-labeling laws in the country.

"We've recently analyzed the data indicating that in the City of Philadelphia we experienced a five percent drop in obesity among school-aged children," stated Nutter.

Nutter also sounded the alarm for more education among adults, especially parents "to understand the risk of high calorie snacks and sugary beverages to the health of themselves and their children." In closing, Nutter expressed that one of the best things cities can do to address these issues to better utilize public-private partnerships, "We know that it takes local, state and federal support, involvement with the business community and most importantly, the commitment of individuals, families and neighborhoods to help cities get healthy."

The Weight of the Nation™ Conference was designed to provide a forum to highlight progress in the prevention and control of obesity through policy and environmental strategies, and is framed around five intervention settings: early care and education; states, tribes and communities; medical care; schools; and workplaces. Plenary and concurrent sessions highlighted impactful strategies implemented in these settings that have lead to policy and environmental supports that have improved population-level health. A key feature of the conference was the release of the latest new Institute of Medicine Report, "Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention."