24 Community Strategies to Prevent Obesity

To fully address obesity at the community level, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have put together a list of 24 recommended strategies that are proven to prevent obesity:

1. Communities should increase availability of healthier food and beverage choices in public service venues.
2. Communities should improve availability of affordable healthier food and beverage choices in public service venues.
3. Communities should improve geographic availability of supermarkets in underserved areas.
4. Communities should provide incentives to food retailers to locate in and/or offer healthier food and beverage choices in underserved areas.
5. Communities should improve availability of mechanisms for purchasing foods from farms.
6. Communities should provide incentives for the production, distribution, and procurement of foods from local farms.
7. Communities should restrict availability of less healthy foods and beverages in public service venues.
8. Communities should institute smaller portion size options in public service venues.
9. Communities should limit advertisements of less healthy foods and beverages.
10. Communities should discourage consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages.
11. Communities should increase support for breastfeeding.
12. Communities should require physical education in schools.
13. Communities should increase the amount of physical activity in PE programs in schools.
14. Communities should increase opportunities for extracurricular physical activity.
15. Communities should reduce screen time in public service venues.
16. Communities should improve access to outdoor recreational facilities.
17. Communities should enhance infrastructure supporting bicycling.
18. Communities should enhance infrastructure supporting walking.
19. Communities should support locating schools within easy walking distance of residential areas.
20. Communities should improve access to public transportation.
21. Communities should zone for mixed-use development.
22. Communities should enhance personal safety in areas where persons are or could be physically active.
23. Communities should enhance traffic safety in areas where persons are or could be physically active.
24. Communities should participate in community coalitions or partnerships to address obesity.

From the CDC, MMWR, Vol 58, No.07, “Recommended Community Strategies and Measurements to Prevent Obesity in the United States”

A source for addressing community change to address obesity can be found on the CDC’s web site: www.cdc.gov/HealthyCommunitiesProgram  and click on “Tools for Community Change”.