Healthy Food Access: Improving Childhood Health

Over 19% of Texas children between the ages of 10 and 19 are obese. Childhood obesity affects children’s health outcomes over the course of their lifetime. For the first time in history, American children are projected to live shorter lives than their parents. These alarming circumstances underscore the need for a variety of strategies to bring down childhood obesity rates.

Living closer to healthy food retail is associated with a lower risk of obesity and other diet related diseases.  But accessing healthy food is a challenge for many families in Texas. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that 20% of the population in our state live in “food deserts” – areas that do not have nearby access to grocery stores or other fresh food retail options. More than 245,000 children who live in Dallas County live in low income areas where grocery sales are very low. And many people living in these areas do not have access to reliable transportation to get to stores that sell the fresh produce, meats, fish and dairy products that provide the staples of a well-balanced, nutritious diet. People living in these areas often rely on corner and convenience stores for their groceries – stores that do not typically source fresh, nutritious foods.

One proven strategy to expand access to healthy food is Healthy Food Financing.  Healthy Food Financing initiatives have proliferated around the country as a tool for state and local governments to encourage development of new supermarkets and other fresh food retail in low-income, underserved areas.  Healthy Food Financing programs often are started with public economic development funds and provide grants and loans that help the food retail industry overcome the high costs of development in disadvantaged areas.

In 2015, CHILDREN AT RISK will convene a Healthy Food Access Summit in Dallas in collaboration with our key partners, stakeholders, and members of the grocery community.  We plan to explore the Dallas community’s needs for improved access to healthy foods and to learn about the financial barriers that grocers face to develop stores in underserved areas. And we hope to educate about the win-win-win advantages of Healthy Food Financing: financial incentives for grocers, neighborhood revitalization from grocery development, and better access to healthy food for our community.

While access to healthy food alone will not stamp out childhood obesity, good nutrition begins with good access to healthy food.  We can only begin to make healthy choices for ourselves and our children when healthy choices are available to us.