Baton Rouge is embarking on a new collaborative to tackle the problem of childhood obesity.
Over the next six months, the capitol city is one of seven cities joining forces through the National League of Cities to better understand obesity-related health disparities among children.
The obesity rate in East Baton Rouge Parish in general is high -- 34 percent among adults. But Andy Allen, Community Outreach Coordinator in Mayor Kip Holden’s Office, says it’s worse in some neighborhoods than others. That’s where they’ll be focusing for this collaborative.
“70805, 07, 02, dipping down to Old South Baton Rouge, the often forgotten Gardere area," Allen said.
What’s not clear is why exactly things are worse in those areas. And they don’t know how bad it is among kids.
“As we look at statistics across the city-parish, we have a better read on adult obesity rates than child obesity rates.”
Tracy Wiedt, Program Manager with the National League of cities, says the goal of the collaborative is to get down to the underlying causes.
“Is education an issue, what’s the grade level of reading for that area, what’s their access in terms of proximity to safe parks?," the collaborative is asking.
Baton Rouge is in the collaborative with cities trying to answer similar questions: Cleveland, OH, Oklahoma City, OK, Virginia Beach, VA, Savannah, GA, Kansas City, KS, and Lincoln, NE.
Allen will be turning to area hospitals, schools, and other organizations to gather data on childhood obesity in Baton Rouge neighborhoods. And he’ll be part of monthly conversations with representatives from the six other cities.
“if we can look at what other cities have done and say ‘this may be a piece of the plan we need to insert, because I can see it working really well in BR and we’ve seen it work on the ground in Virginia Beach, or somewhere comparable," Allen said.
From those conversations, Baton Rouge will put together an action plan to address childhood obesity. That blueprint is due in June.