Benefits - Obesity and Physical Activity: The Foundation Position - Part Two

The current situation with childhood obesity is the important role of exercise in addressing this issue. There are numerous unanswered questions related to the efficacy and economic viability of youth physical activity delivery systems. Physical activity programs that result in weight loss exist, but there has been no analysis of whether such programs are replicable, scalable and sustainable and if so, at what cost. Further, there has been no integrated analysis of the projected impact of related and supporting programs that might increase the likelihood of physical activity program success and sustainability, such as:

• local, state and federal laws and policies
• individual and institutional incentives
• media and public education initiatives
• role of fitness testing and effectiveness of various measurement systems
• role and delivery of nutrition information

This lack of a comprehensive assessment of the relative costs and effectiveness of various approaches to increasing youth physical activity levels inhibits the development of a strategic plan that can be used by educators, foundation funders, responsible corporate citizens, public officials and other interested parties to determine their appropriate roles and actions. Further, potential resource providers (corporations, government, foundations, trade associations and national education, nutrition, sports and physical activity-related non-profit organizations) for such a physical activity initiative would be more likely to invest in such a program if they were assured that their investment would achieve an intended result and they were able to estimate the return on their investment.

Key Questions that Must be Addressed

Desired Outcome

Effectively reduce childhood obesity across the target population group in a way that is replicable, scalable and sustainable.

Key questions:

• What is the target audience and why?
• What assessment of overweight and obesity will be used, what is the baseline data and how often will progress be assessed?
• What standards will be used to determine whether the outcome is sustainable?
• What is the rank order of the cost efficiency and effectiveness of various strategic elements and the minimum elements required to produce the primary impact, the initial and continuing costs of such elements, and the likely sources of sustainable revenues to support such programs?