Obesity policy strategies win national competition

A team of five students from the UW-Madison La Follette School won first place for their strategies to combat childhood obesity in a national public affairs competition in Washington, D.C. March 22-23. Miriam Palmer , Selina Eadie , Andrew Walsh , Norma-Jean Simon and Jiaqi Lu won the Policy Solutions Challenge USA. They also won the Midwest regional competition held March 1-2 at Ohio State University. The five presented their strategies using policy and cost-benefit analysis to support their recommendations that states adopt three anti-obesity policies to reach children at all stages in their lives. "The first policy recommendation is to establish minimum standards of infant feeding and physical activity for child-care providers," Palmer says. "Providers would receive additional state reimbursements for implementing more of the standards. Child-care settings are already regulated, and this policy would take advantage of that system to reach children between birth and 5 years." A five-year pilot of obesity reduction programs in elementary and middle schools is the second policy recommendation.