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Special Contributor | Living Large—Are Our Communities Making Us Fat?

By: Serena Vinter

Late last month, my organization, Trust for America’s Health, issued our seventh annual report, F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future 2010, which finds adult obesity rates increased in 28 states in the past year and declined only in the District of Columbia. More than two-thirds of states (38) have adult obesity rates above 25 percent. In 1991, no state had an obesity rate above 20 percent. Nationally, two-thirds of adults and nearly one-third of children and teens are currently obese or overweight. These discouraging figures come ...

Special Contributor | Health Reform Offers New Resources and New Opportunities for Public Health

By: Serena Vinter

Lost amid the yearlong debate over health reform and the heated talk of death panels and socialism were some major changes to the way in which the United States funds public health, prevention, and wellness programs as a result of the passage of health reform legislation. The new law emphasizes access to care. However, it also contains significant public health, prevention, and wellness provisions, including a national prevention, health promotion, and public health council; a national prevention and health promotion strategy; a prevention and public health ...

Special Contributor | Can the First Lady Solve the Childhood Obesity Epidemic?

By: Serena Vinter

Earlier this year, First Lady Michelle Obama unveiled her signature policy initiative: the Let’s Move campaign. The First Lady’s campaign brings together a diverse group of stakeholders, including government agencies, food and beverage companies, pediatricians and health care providers, athletes, parents, and children with the ambitious goal of solving the childhood obesity problem in America within a generation. In the weeks since the official launch, Mrs. Obama has addressed both the nation’s mayors and governors to stress the importance of taking action in their communities; traveled to Philadelphia to ...

“Viewpoints” | Looking Back at Hurricane Katrina: Is Our Public Health System More Prepared?

By: Serena Vinter

Four years ago this week – August 28, 2005 to be precise – Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast region, killing more than 1,800 people and causing more than $81 billion in damages. The devastating storm left the region’s public health and health care systems in shambles from which they are still trying to recover years later. At the time, many Americans considered Katrina a wake-up call for federal, state, and local governments to seriously prepare the country for public health emergencies and natural disasters. Instead, we treated Katrina like a ...