Children's Food Environment State Indicator Report, 2011: Data for action

Background. The Children's Food Environment State Indicator Report, 2011 is a CDC report on childhood obesity-related behaviors and policy and environmental supports. The report compiles new and previously released state and national data for public health action. Methodology. Children's behavioral indicators include soda consumption, television viewing, television in the bedroom, and meals eaten with family. They are derived from national guidelines and recommendations from leading medical associations with data from federally supported surveillance systems. Policy and environmental indicators, from multiple data sources, measure support of healthy food environments in childcare, schools, and communities. For inclusion, data had to be measurable for most states, with transparent data collection. Results. Four of five states with the lowest high school obesity prevalence performed better than the national prevalence for all four behavioral indicators. About half of states had regulations that provided water (n=26), few restricted sugar drinks (n=2) or screentime (n=18) in both childcare centers and family childcare homes. Most states (n=42) had lower (worse) modified Retail Food Environment Index scores among impoverished census tracts compared to their respective overall scores. The complete set of national and state level findings will be summarized in this presentation. Discussion. Periodic publication through the next decade will allow for data to be used as a surveillance tool to portray how states support healthy food environments for children. It will help monitor state successes and progress, and identify opportunities for improvement in environmental, policy, and systems approaches that can support parents and children in choosing healthy behaviors.