Objective
As part of a national effort to prevent and control obesity, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Nutrition and Physical Activity Program to Prevent Obesity (NPAO) and Other Chronic Diseases supports 28 states in preventing obesity and other chronic disease through improving nutrition and physical activity. CDC also funds 23 states to build Coordinated School Health (CSH) programs to help reduce chronic disease risk factors such as poor nutrition. This paper investigates association between the presence of one of these programs and the enactment of nutrition related legislation by states.
Design, Setting and Participants
Analyses included legislation identified in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.
Outcome Measures and Analyses
We systematically reviewed three databases to identify specific pieces of nutrition-related legislation enacted by states during 2005.
Results
States receiving funding from either the NPAO or CSH programs passed twice as many nutrition bills, on average, as states not yet funded.
Conclusions and Implications
The statewide obesity prevention and school health programs may have contributed to these states enacting more nutrition-related legislation. This project was funded by CDC DNPAO.
