Information Clearinghouse The Information Clearinghouse has been developed to serve as a collection of statistics, best practices, resources, ITE articles, conference session summaries, and other various tools and information that are easily available for download. It is intended that these resources be updated to be consistent with new resources at a future time. National Campaigns Robert Wood Johnson Foundation | Childhood Obesity Web site: http://rwjf.org/childhoodobesity/ RWJF funds efforts at the local, state and federal level to change public policies and community environments in ways that promote improved nutrition and increased physical activity—both of which are critical to reversing the childhood obesity epidemic.

Photo Credit: “Killing by Fast Food” courtesy of flickr user Nomadize.

Let’s Move
Web site: http://www.letsmove.gov/

The “Let’s Move!” campaign, started by First Lady Michelle Obama, has an ambitious national goal of solving the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation so that children born today will reach adulthood at a healthy weight. “Let’s Move!” will combat the epidemic of childhood obesity through a comprehensive approach that will engage every sector impacting the health of children and will provide schools, families and communities simple tools to help kids be more active, eat better, and get healthy.

Related link: “Congratulations, Let's Move! for a tremendous first year” (February, 2011)
Read Secretary LaHood’s blog and learn about other related initiatives, including:

• Encouraging children to walk and bike safely to school through Safe Routes to Schools programs.
• Promoting bicycle and pedestrian-friendly “complete streets” policies.
• Using TIGER discretionary funds to support projects that benefit communities and create opportunities for increased physical activity.
  

National Policy & Legal Analysis Network to Prevent Childhood Obesity (NPLAN)
Web site: http://changelabsolutions.org/childhood-obesity

“We help communities become healthier places for children to grow and thrive.”

Technical Presentations

• ITE 2010 Annual Meeting and Exhibit
  Vancouver, BC, Canada – August 9, 2010
  Designing Healthy Streets for Active Living | Video (476 MB)
  • “Health Impacts of Transportation Planning and Policy Decisions: Framework, Tools and Applications"
    By Megan Wier, MPH, San Francisco Department of Public Health, Program on Health, Equity and Sustainability
    
    
• ITE 2011 Technical Conference and Exhibit
  Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA – April 5, 2011
  Safer Streets for Healthier Children | Recording (Video, Transcript)
  
  Speakers:
  • “Engaging the Community in Transportation Solutions”
    By Kelly Morphy, Director of Outreach and Communications, Walkable and Livable Communities Institute
  • “How Policy Drives Mode Choice in Children’s Transportation to School”
    By Ruth Steiner, Associate Professor, Director, Center for Health and the Built Environment, University of Florida
  • “Small Steps to Better Health: Child-Friendly Planning Perspectives”
    By John Hemingway, Senior Project Manager, Hatch Mott MacDonald
  • “Prioritizing Transportation Policy and Funding for Active Transportation, Safety, Equity and Health”
    By Leslie Meehan, Senior Transportation Planner, Co-Chair Tennessee Obesity Taskforce, Nashville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization
    
    
• ITE 2011 Annual Meeting and Exhibit
  St. Louis, MO, USA – Sunday, August 14, 2011, 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
  Session 5 – Safer Streets for Healthier Children | Recording (Video)
  
  Speakers:
  • “Creating Safe Streets for Children – Innovative Partnerships, Policy, Programs and Funding”
    By Leslie A. Meehan, Senior Transportation Planner, Co-Chair Tennessee Obesity Taskforce, Nashville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, Nashville, TN
  • “Be a Superhero!: How Engineers Played a Pivotal Role in Creating Safer Streets Around Three St. Louis Schools”
    By Jennifer Allen, Active Transportation Manager, Trailnet, St. Louis, MO
  • “Complete Streets Around Schools: Promoting Health, Academic Success, and a Safe Environment for the Next Generation”
    By Ian Thomas, Executive Director, PedNet Coalition, Columbia, MO
  • “Creating a Bikeable City for Kids: Evidence from Portland”
    By Jennifer Dill, Director, Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium, Associate Professor, Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning, Portland State University, Portland, OR
    
    
• Safe Routes to Play: A Child-centered Transportation Initiative Webinar (98MB Recording)
  Download CODEC if you have a problem with the video.
  
  
• American Public Health Association’s (APHA) Webinar Series
  "What Healthy Communities Need from their Transportation Networks”
  • Webinar 1: “Community Health and Transportation Planning”; held on January 18, 2011
  • Webinar 2: “The Health Benefits from Active Transportation”; held on February 15, 2011
  • Webinar 3: “Health Impact Assessments (HIAs) in Transportation”; held on March 15, 2011
  • Webinar 4: “Preventing Roadway Fatalities and Injuries”; held on April 5, 2011
    

Toolkits

• American Public Health Association | Transportation and Health Toolkit
• Safe Route To Play Program (involves kids and mapping)

Articles, Blogs, and Columns

• A City Tries to Slim Down
• A New Design Movement That Can Help Us Beat Obesity
• Aging of the Baby Boom: A Community “Blueprint for Action”
• Citizens for Modern Transit Gets Grant for Health Effort
• Coalition Finds “Complete Streets” Gaining Popularity
• Combating Food Deserts, Creating Jobs (Source: Obama Foodorama)
• Developing a Healthy, Sustainable, Livable Transportation System Network
• Healthways, Blue Zones Establish Healthways-Blue Zones Vitality Quest to Improve Community Well-Being
• Healthy Nashville
• Helping Kids Get Active and Healthy By “Keeping Them Moving”
• Illinois | State Obesity Action Roadmap: 2011-2014
• Living Large Driving Less
• Maryland Department of Transportation Asks, “What Are the Barriers to More Children Walking and Biking to School?”
  View the press release here and view the survey here.
• More miles on the road translates to more pounds, study finds
• Multimedia on Transportation, Health and Equity
• Obesity Tied to Education, Income, but Not Suburbia: Study
• Transportation is a Public Health Issue; DOT Doing Its Part to Keep Kids Moving

Papers and Reports

• Active Living and Social Equity: Creating Healthy Communities for All Residents (January, 2005)
  
• Active Transport, Public Transportation, and Obesity in Metropolitan Areas of the United States (July, 2008)
  
• APHA’s 2010 Active Transportation Fact Sheet (2010)
• Bicycle and Pedestrian Curricula Guide: Making the Case for Bicycle and Pedestrian Youth Education (February, 2011)
• Designing Walkable Urban Thoroughfares: A Context Sensitive Approach (March, 2010)
• Does the Built Environment Influence Physical Activity? Examining the Evidence (2005)
• Environmental Correlates of Walking and Cycling: Findings from the Transportation, Urban Design, and Planning Literatures (2003)
• Evaluating Public Transportation Health Benefits (June, 2010)
• Making the Case for Investment in the Walking Environment (2011)
• Making Tracks: Active & Safe Routes to School – Walking, Cycling, In-line Skating and Skateboarding (2010)
  Submitted by John Hemingway (ITE/RWJF TAC member)
• Means of Transportation to Work and Overweight and Obesity: A Population-Based Study in Southern Sweden (July, 2007)
• Obesity Relationships with Community Design, Physical Activity, and Time Spent in Cars (2004)
• Play Matters
  Submitted by Stephen Ferranti (ITE/RWJF TAC member)
• Preventive Medicine, Volume 50, Supplement 1, Pages S1-S126 (January 2010)
• Safe Routes to School Local Policy Guide (June, 2011)
• Taking Action on the Built Environment: Building Healthy Public Policy | Proceedings Report (December, 2010)
  Submitted by John Hemingway (ITE/RWJF TAC member)
• The Benefit of Public Transportation: Physical Activity to Reduce Obesity and Ecological Footprint (December, 2007)
• The Road to Health Care Parity: Transportation Policy and Access to Health Care (April, 2011)
• The Road to Obesity or the Path to Prevention: Motorized Transportation and Obesity in China (April, 2002)
• Transportation and Health: Policy Interventions for Safer, Healthier People and Communities (July, 2011)
• Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to assess the role of the built environment in influencing obesity: a glossary (July, 2011)
• Walking, Cycling, and Obesity Rates in Europe, North America, and Australia (2008)
  • Related Article: “Active Transportation and Obesity in Europe, North America, and Australia” (ITE members only); ITE Journal, Vol. 81 (8), Pages 24-28 (August, 2011)
• White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity | Report to the President (May, 2010)