In 2013, the New Jersey Department of Health began the ShapingNJ initiative to address the issue of obesity at a statewide level. At that time, 1 in 4 adults in NJ were obese, nearly 1 in 3 children between the ages of 10 and 17 were overweight, and NJ had one of the highest obesity rates in the nation for low income children ages 2-5 years. In 2010, the Rutgers Center for State Health Policy issued the New Jersey Childhood Obesity Study, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which found that overall, 44.2% of children in Newark were overweight and obese; 25.2% of whom were obese; 18.3% of whom were very obese.  These rates were significantly higher than obesity rates in the US as a whole.  The study also found that 70% of Newark children ages 3 to 18 did not meet guidelines for physical activity for 60 minutes per day. The 2016 RWJF-funded County Health Rankings reported that 27% of adults in Essex County had a BMI greater than 30; 27% of adults had no leisure time physical activity and the food environment index was 7.1.  All of these indicators were below both top performers nationally and in NJ overall.

We recognize that there are many organizations in Newark that are working to reduce obesity in the City.  Therefore, our focus is on bringing these organizations together, along with key academic and clinical experts, to develop common ways to help community residents, both adults and children, lose weight or maintain a healthy weight.