Healthy Weight - Draft

Funding Area: Healthy Weight

Childhood overweight and obesity is clearly a public health concern in Wake County.  The issue is especially important to address now, when nearly 36.5 percent of children in Wake County are overweight or obese.  It is a complex issue and not simple to solve. Among the many challenges that contribute to this public health concern are:

• Healthy eating for Wake County families is not always easy, particularly when families often find it cheaper and easier to purchase unhealthy foods. 
• Activity levels of Wake County children are also impacted by a number of factors such as lack of time or the resources to engage in physical activity.

The policies and programs that impact social and physical environments in Wake County create both barriers and opportunities for promoting healthy weight among children and families. The John Rex Endowment sees environmental, policy, and systems approaches as necessary to achieve long-term, sustainable changes that support healthy weight in children.  Our Healthy Weight funding area is detailed in our five-year plan, Our Plan for Impact, 2013-2018.

Our current goalis to support municipalities in improving policies and implementing changes to the built environment that increase children’s access to healthy foods and opportunities for active living opportunities.

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