Spotlight on Chicago, Illinois

By Jennifer Herd, Senior Health Policy Analyst, Chicago Department of Public Health

Chicago, the nation’s third largest city and home to 2.7 million people, is earning a reputation as an innovative leader in public health – specifically around addressing childhood obesity.

Understanding that significant coordination is required to improve childhood obesity rates, the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) developed an Inter-Departmental Task Force on Childhood Obesity (IDTF) in 2006.  The IDTF is a multi-agency model based on the premise that the complexity of childhood obesity requires inter-disciplinary solutions. The IDTF was formed with four agencies (public health, schools, family and support services and parks) and has since grown to include eleven city agencies, including transportation, libraries and economic development.  City governments, because they are comprised of a range of agencies with diverse expertise, have an important opportunity to coordinate across disciplines.

In 2011, this collaborative effort was taken further through the development and release of Healthy Chicago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s comprehensive public health agenda. Healthy Chicago serves as a framework for a focused, comprehensive approach to how the Chicago Department of Public Health will lead and collaborate with community partners to improve the health and well-being of Chicagoans. Healthy Chicago provides 200 concrete strategies to improve health, grouped around 12 priority areas – including obesity reduction, which specifically provides strategies to help children get and stay healthy in their schools, neighborhoods, parks and homes.

Thanks to the efforts of the IDTF and Healthy Chicago, the City of Chicago is beginning to see progress in the national fight against obesity. New data shows obesity rates among Chicago’s youngest public school students decreasing.  In fact, over the past 10 years, obesity rates in kindergarten-aged students have dropped from 24% to 19.1%.  Though these numbers indicate improvement, there is still more work to be done.

Building off this success, Healthy Chicago has facilitated with its partners for the following strategies.

In public schools:

(1)    Developing a standardized P.E. curriculum, across all grade levels, ensuring all public school students meet or exceed improved requirements for student activity.

(2)    Improving nutritional standards affecting 14.2 million breakfasts and 47.6 million lunches served annually to students.

(3)    Developing a Healthy Snack and Beverage Policy, guaranteeing all snacks during the school day are of  high nutritional value.

(4)    Restoring recess time, allowing students the necessary time to engage in physical activity and play—an evidence-based practice to improve both student health and learning.

In Chicago parks:

(1)    Converting all park facility snack vending machines to 100% health items.  Following the Park District’s leadership, the City of Chicago converted all its snack and beverage vending machines to a healthy vending model, and the Chicago Transit Authority is following this same lead for all its employee vending machines.

(2)    Establishing Youth Wellness Center campuses across the city with equipment designed to better engage youth, (e.g. stationary bikes with game-like screens for competition among participants, synchronized dancing games).

(3)    Participating in the City’s safe park access design guidelines to ensure traffic calming around Chicago’s City Park system, allowing families to feel safe when visiting the parks.

Throughout the City:

(1)    Developing a new set of “Complete Streets” guidelines, which prioritizes pedestrians and public transit users and its companion piece, “Make Way for Play” that make streets and sidewalks in Chicago safer.

(2)    Developing Chicago’s first coordinated healthy food plan, “A Recipe for Healthy Places.” The Plan engaged over 400 Chicagoans and made 21 recommendations for improving how healthy, fresh food is grown, distributed and consumed across Chicago.  The plan was formally adopted this year by the Chicago Plan Commission.

(3)    Increasing access to healthy food  options through a Citywide campaign including bringing both  mainstream grocers and  fresh  produce carts  to  food deserts, where families have  historically had  no  access  to healthy food options.

(4)    Creating a city-wide PlayStreets program, a new opportunity for youth and their families to engage in structured fun physical activities within their own neighborhoods.

(5)    Developing Child Center Guidelines to improve the nutritional, physical activity and screen time standards at 1,400 Childcare centers across the City.

As a result of these efforts and more, Chicago was recognized by the National League of Cities in 2012 for its accomplishments in reducing childhood obesity and its work through First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Cities, Towns, and Counties Initiative.  In 2013, Mayor Emanuel was awarded the inaugural Playful City USA Leadership Award for the City’s efforts to ensure all children have access to play and physical activity.