Childhood Obesity in Boston: Community Strategies and Solutions

Childhood Obesity and Racial Disparities in Boston

Childhood obesity is a widespread and serious problem with both short- and long-term adverse health outcomes. It affects ethnic and racial minority children as well as those who are economically disadvantaged in disproportionate ways. There is little doubt that it represents a significant threat to public health. Multi-sector and multilevel prevention and management strategies are widely regarded as the most effective approaches to resolving the problem (Taveras et al., 2015).

Obesity and overweight rates among Black and Latino girls in Boston's high schools, as well as among adult women in the city, are alarmingly high. Black men have been reported to have the highest rates of obesity. Although specific data on the number of children affected in Boston is limited, national statistics show that Latino and Black children exhibit significantly elevated rates at a relatively early age, and it is expected that this trend is similarly reflected in Boston. The populations highlighted not only demonstrate higher incidence of both adult and childhood obesity, but the problem has also been observed to worsen more rapidly than it does among white communities (Ferrer, 2012).

A third of all students in Boston's public high schools had a BMI classified as either overweight or obese. When the same data were broken down by racial and ethnic group, 35% of Latino and Black students weighed above recommended levels and qualified as overweight or obese, compared to 27% of white students. Among adults in Boston, more than half are either overweight or obese. Specifically, 63% of Black adults and 61% of Latino adults had overweight BMI scores, compared to 49% of white adults (Ferrer, 2012). A study conducted in Boston found that parents who received fitness and health status reports were nearly twice as likely to acknowledge the truth about their child's overweight status, and those who received the reports were also twice as likely to pursue some kind of weight control program for their overweight child.

Many community-run programs in Boston have directed their attention toward individual-level interventions, primarily aiming to influence knowledge, behaviors, and attitudes. Over time, these programs need to adopt strategies that address community, interpersonal, and societal influences on disease transmission and general health. They should seek to understand how poverty and racism have limited the opportunities available to those most affected when making health-promoting choices, and how these factors have contributed to worse health outcomes for a significant portion of Boston's Black population. Residential environment, type of employment, awareness of risk, and access to support systems and resources all shape health outcomes. It is therefore critical that Boston's public health initiatives confront these broader contexts and realities (Kar, Dube, & Kar, 2014). One option to consider is restricting the sale of junk food in restaurants within certain neighborhoods through zoning regulations. Such measures should primarily target convenience stores in high-density neighborhoods that have demonstrated poor health outcomes, while alternatively encouraging existing stores to stock and sell healthier food options (Kar, Dube, & Kar, 2014).