Promoting Obesity Prevention and Equitable Access to the Environmental, Clinical and Policy Interventions to Achieve Healthy Weight and Manage Chronic Health Conditions

WHEREAS, Obesity presents ongoing challenges to the health of the nation and is a common, serious, and costly disease, the Black American population is disproportionately impacted by obesity and associated chronic conditions such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers; and 

WHEREAS, Nearly seventy-four percent (73.6%) of the United States (US) population ages 20 and older are overweight, including nearly forty-two percent (41.9%) who have obesity according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); and 

WHEREAS, Black adults have the highest age-adjusted prevalence of obesity (49.9%), followed by Hispanic adults (45.6%), White adults (41.4%), and Asian adults (16%) according to the most recent CDC data; and 

WHEREAS, The prevalence of obesity among all children is approximately twenty percent (19.7%), almost thirteen percent (12.7%) of children ages 2-5 years have obesity; nearly 21 percent (20.7%) of children ages 6-11 years have obesity; and twenty-two percent (22.2%) of children ages 12-19 years have obesity according to the CDC; and 

WHEREAS, Childhood obesity in the US puts children and adolescents at risk for poor health, children from certain communities bear the brunt of this burden; obesity prevalence among Hispanic children is 26.2%; among Black children is 24.8%; among white children is 16.6%; and among Asian children is 9.0% according to the CDC; and 

WHEREAS, Overweight and obesity are a serious public health issue which increase the risk of all-cause mortality, high blood pressure, high LDL cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, asthma, sleep apnea, arthritis and joint problems, mental health conditions, and certain cancers, among other health conditions; and 

WHEREAS, Obesity has important economic implications; the CDC reports the medical cost of obesity as roughly $173 billion annually, in addition to lost productivity costs. Medical costs for adults with obesity is $1,861 higher than medical costs for people with healthy weight; and 

WHEREAS, Obesity is a complex social and medical disease due to multiple factors including behavior, environment, and genetic factors which cause people to be overweight and obese; and 

WHEREAS, Fewer than 1 in 10 children and adults eat the recommended daily amount of vegetables; fewer than 1 in 4 youth get enough physical activity; and only 1 in 4 adults meet physical activity guidelines, according to the CDC; and

WHEREAS, More than half of Americans do not live within half a mile of a park, and forty percent (40%) of all US households do not live within 1 mile of healthier food stores, according to the CDC; specifically, one in five Black Americans report living in a food desert with fewer grocery stores that sell fresh and affordable foods in an Ipsos research panel; also, recent research by the Center for American Progress found that communities of color are almost three times more likely to live in "nature-deprived" areas defined as those that have less or no access to parks, paths, and green spaces; and 

WHEREAS, Researchers at University California, Davis sampled 102 stores in Northern California including chains (i.e., dollar stores, drugstores, specialty food stores, supermarkets, and mass merchandisers) as well as independent supermarkets and grocers in a 2023 study, they found options at checkout consist of candy (31%), sugar-sweetened beverages (11%), salty snacks (9%) and sweets (6%); whereas, water represented 3% of food and beverage options, followed by nuts and seeds (2%), fruits and vegetables (1%), legumes (0.1%) and milk (0.02%); and 

WHEREAS, The primary tools to prevent and manage overweight and obesity include interventions such as diet, physical activity, sleep, and clinical/medical tools such as lifestyle counseling, nutrition consultation, weight loss medications, and surgical treatments; and 

WHEREAS, The barriers to access of the latest anti-obesity medications include access to care, access to health insurance, and out-of-pocket costs; in 2021, forty percent (40%) of patients insured through Medicaid had obesity, but only about 1 in 5 state Medicaid programs covered at least one such drug through the first quarter of 2023 in a report published by Liu and Rome (2024); and while Medicare can only cover these prescription medications, if the weight loss drug is also approved for another clinical condition such as heart disease; and 

WHEREAS, Epic research data show lower prescribing rates for Black patients for an anti-obesity medication despite having a higher prevalence of both obesity and diabetes than their white peers — who are up to four times more likely to receive the prescription; similar prescribing disparities have been found in other research that compares white patients and Hispanic/Latino patients. 

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the NAACP calls upon state and federal governments to provide equitable and inclusive access to all anti-obesity tools and medications and community-level interventions to prevent overweight and obesity, promote healthy weight, and manage obesity-related chronic illnesses. 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NAACP advocates for states and the federal government through Medicaid and Medicare, respectively, to expand access to care, and to cover and negotiate lower prices for medications which treat conditions which disproportionately impact the Black population and communities of color, specifically obesity.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NAACP strongly supports a healthy option at checkout policy be adopted by retail stores and as part of local ordinances; this policy would ensure that healthy food options are provided in at least one (1) checkout aisle at a retailer; this aisle would require retail stores to replace sugar-sweetened beverages and food items with more than 5 grams of added sugars or 200 mg of sodium per serving with healthier options. 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NAACP calls on state and local governments to ensure that Black, Latino, and Native and Indigenous communities of color who have higher prevalence rates of obesity have robust access to safe and clean physical activity promoting spaces in their neighborhoods, as well as equitable access to high quality, fresh and affordable healthy foods. 

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the NAACP commits to combatting the stigma associated with overweight and obesity through a health in all policies approach and to raising awareness to both the multiple factors that cause overweight and obesity and the comprehensive solutions that promote healthy weight and may prevent and manage overweight and obesity and associated chronic conditions across the lifespan.