Local Governments Should Act to Reduce Childhood Obesity

September 1 -- Local governments play a crucial role in the fight against childhood obesity by creating environments that make it either easy or hard for children to eat healthier diets and move more. A new report from the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council provides local officials with action steps that hold the greatest potential to reduce obesity rates among children, such as zoning restrictions on fast-food restaurants near schools, community policing to improve safety around public recreational sites, and publicly run after-school programs that limit video game and TV time.

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