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Pediatrics

Equitable approaches to reducing the prevalence of pediatric obesity: school nutrition policies and beyond

International Journal of Obesity volume 45, pages 2289–2290 (2021)Cite this article

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The rising prevalence of overweight/obesity and refractory racial/ethnic disparities demand the rapid implementation of innovative, comprehensive policy changes paired with rigorous evaluation to accelerate the broad adoption and prioritization of the most effective and equitable policies [1]. Sanchez-Vaznaugh et al. apply an equity lens to offer important insight into the additive effects of federal and state policies regarding in-school nutrition standards [2]. Specifically, they found that overweight/obesity prevalence among California 5th and 7th graders improved after the initiation of state-level policies regulating food and beverages sold in schools, with further improvement following federal policies regulating meals provided in schools. Although they highlighted severe and persistent racial/ethnic disparities, they observed greater improvements in overweight/obesity among Black and Latino children relative to other groups. The urgency of understanding the effectiveness of interventions for childhood overweight/obesity has never been higher, given alarming indications that prevalence of and disparities within pediatric overweight/obesity may be worsening during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic [3].

Past research led by Sanchez-Vaznaugh et al. demonstrated that California state policies regulating foods and beverages sold in schools had a greater positive impact on pediatric overweight/obesity among children at schools in socioeconomically advantaged versus disadvantaged neighborhoods [4]. It is, therefore, encouraging to see that the more recent state and federal policies examined in this issue were associated with a reduction in disparities and appear to have preferentially benefited children in populations disproportionately affected by overweight/obesity. Further research exploring how and why these policies yielded different impacts on these populations may provide important insight to inform future policy development.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R01HL151603 and K12HL138037), the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (R01MD014853), and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (1K23HD080876-01A1) of the National Institutes of Health. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Emily B. Finn & Mona Sharifi

  2. Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Amy Beck

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  1. Emily B. Finn
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  2. Amy Beck
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  3. Mona Sharifi
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Contributions

All three authors (EBF, AB, MS) conceived of the work that led to the submission. EBF led the manuscript drafting, all three authors collaboratively revised the manucsript. All three authors approved the final manuscript and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work. EBF had final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication.

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Correspondence to Emily B. Finn.

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Finn, E.B., Beck, A. & Sharifi, M. Equitable approaches to reducing the prevalence of pediatric obesity: school nutrition policies and beyond. Int J Obes 45, 2289–2290 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-021-00924-0

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