Addressing childhood obesity through state legislation: A review of bills across the u.s., 2010-2012

Background: Childhood obesity continues to be a national focus. Due to the issue's complexity, broad policies and interventions are needed to facilitate improvement. The purpose of this study was to explore the content and correlation of state-level bills introduced across the U.S. from 2010-12 that may impact the childhood obesity trend. Methods: LexisNexis, a legislative database, was used to identify and search bills within 27 pre-defined topics related to childhood obesity. Coding was used to quantify important bill characteristics. Double coding was utilized to confirm reliability. Data analyses were completed using SPPS v. 21.0 with statistical significance presumed at p<0.05. Results: Of the 2,352 bills analyzed, approximately 18% were enacted over the study period. Preliminary findings show a significant correlation with the number of times a bill is introduced and its positive progression towards enactment (p<0.05). Bipartisan bills, requiring less monetary support, and amended, rather than new, bills aided bill success (p<0.05). Multilevel modeling is underway to assess topic- and state-specific predictors of bill failure or success for community, school, childcare, and general approaches to childhood obesity. Conclusion: Policy assessment is a useful tool in highlighting and advocating for effective ways to address childhood obesity. Findings can inform advocacy efforts and guide policy makers to improve the likelihood of bill passage.

Learning objectives: 1. Participants will be able to name at least five legislative topics that may impact childhood obesity. 2. Participants will be able to describe at least two factors associated with state obesity bill enactment.