State Category: Nebraska

U.S. Obesity Rates at Historic Highs – Nine States Reach Adult Obesity Rates of 35 Percent or More

 Report Calls for Sugary Drink Taxes, Expanded SNAP and WIC Nutrition Support Programs and a built environment that encourages physical activity to Help Address Health Crisis

(Washington, DC – September 12, 2019) – Nine U.S. states had adult obesity rates above 35 percent in 2018, up from seven states at that level in 2017, an historic level of obesity in the U.S., according to the 16th annual State of Obesity: Better Policies for a Healthier America report released today by the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH).

The report based in part on newly released data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), and analysis by TFAH, provides an annual snapshot of obesity rates nationwide.  The State of Obesity series and this report were made possible by funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Obesity has serious health consequences including increased risk for type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke and many types of cancers. Obesity is estimated to increase national healthcare spending by $149 billion annually (about half of which is paid for by Medicare and Medicaid) and being overweight or obese is the most common reason young adults are ineligible for military service.

Obesity rates vary considerably between states with Mississippi and West Virginia having the highest level of adult obesity in the nation at 39.5 percent and Colorado having the lowest rate at 23.0 percent.

For the first time, adult obesity rates were above 35 percent in nine states in 2018: Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota and West Virginia.

As recently as 2012, no state had an adult obesity rate over 35 percent and within the last five years (2013 and 2018) 33 states had statistically significant increases in their rates of adult obesity.

“These latest data shout that our national obesity crisis is getting worse,” said John Auerbach, President and CEO of Trust for America’s Health. “They tell us that almost 50 years into the upward curve of obesity rates we haven’t yet found the right mix of programs to stop the epidemic.   Isolated programs and calls for life-style changes aren’t enough.  Instead, our report highlights the fundamental changes that are needed in the social and economic conditions that make it challenging for people to eat healthy foods and get sufficient exercise.”


Differential Impact Amongst Minority Populations

The report highlights that obesity levels are closely tied to social and economic conditions and that individuals with lower incomes are more at risk. People of color, who are more likely to live in neighborhoods with few options for healthy foods and physical activity, and, are the target of widespread marketing of unhealthy foods, are at elevated risk.

As of 2015-2016, the latest available data, nearly half of Latino (47 percent) and Black adults (46.8) had obesity while adult obesity rates among White and Asian adults were 37.9 percent and 12.7 percent respectively.  Incidence of childhood obesity was highest amongst Latino children at 25.8 percent while 22 percent of Black children had obesity, 14 percent of White children had obesity and 11 percent of Asian children had obesity.


What Could Work?

While the obesity rates are alarming, there are new data offering the promise of policies that combat the epidemic, namely promoting healthier food for children through revamped WIC food packages and fostering behavior change through taxes on sugary drinks.

  • Obesity rates for children enrolled in WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children) continue to decline, from 15.9 percent in 2010 to 13.9 percent in 2016. In 2009, the USDA updated WIC food packages to more closely meet recommended national dietary guidelines including the addition of more fruits, vegetables and whole grains and reduced fat levels in milk and infant formula. A Los Angeles County study published this year found that 4-year-olds who had received the revised WIC food package since birth had reduced risk for obesity.
  • A number of U.S. cities and the Navajo Nation have passed local taxes on sugary drinks that are showing promise as a means to change consumers’ beverage habits. Studies of a 1-cent per ounce tax in Berkeley, California and a 1.5 cent per ounce tax in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania found that the consumption of sugary drinks decreased significantly after the tax was imposed.

“Policies such as these are proving effective in changing behavior. But, no single solution – however promising – is sufficient.  Obesity is a complex problem and will need multi-sector, multi-factor solutions,” said TFAH’s Auerbach.

“Creating the conditions that allow people to more easily make healthy choices is central to preventing obesity, as is prioritizing investment in those communities most affected by the crisis,” Auerbach said.


Recommendations for Policy Action

The report includes 31 recommendations for policy action by federal, state and local government, across several sectors, designed to improve access to nutritious foods and provide safe opportunities for physical activity, while minimizing harmful marketing and advertising tactics.

Among the report’s recommendations for policies to address the obesity crisis are:

  • Expand the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) to age 6 for children and for two years postpartum for mothers and fully fund the WIC breastfeeding Peer Counseling Program.
  • Increase the price of sugary drinks through excise taxes and use the revenue to address health and socioeconomic disparities.
  • Ensure that CDC has enough funding to grant every state appropriate funding to implement evidence-based obesity prevention strategies (currently, CDC only has enough funding to work with 16 states).
  • Make it more difficult to market unhealthy food to children by ending federal tax loopholes and business costs deductions related to the advertising of such foods to young audiences.
  • Fully fund the Student Support and Academic Enrichment program and other federal programs that support student physical education.
  • Encourage safe physical activity by funding Safe Routes to Schools (SRTS), Complete Streets, Vision Zero and other pedestrian safety initiatives through federal transportation and infrastructure funding.
  • Ensure that anti-hunger and nutrition-assistance programs, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), WIC, and others follow the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and make access to nutritious food a core program tenet.
  • Strengthen and expand school nutrition programs beyond federal standards to include universal meals, flexible breakfasts and eliminate all unhealthy food marketing to students.
  • Enforce existing laws that direct most health insurers to cover obesity-related preventive services at no-cost sharing to patients.
  • Cover evidence-based comprehensive pediatric weight management programs and services in Medicaid.

 

State by State rates of adult obesity – highest to lowest

Tie: Mississippi and West Virginia (39.5%), 3. Arkansas (37.1%), 4. Louisiana (36.8%), 5. Kentucky (36.6%), 6. Alabama (36.2%), 7. Iowa (35.3%), 8. North Dakota (35.1%), 9. Missouri, (35.0%),  10. – Tie: Oklahoma and Texas (34.8%), 12. – Tie: Kansas and Tennessee (34.4%), 14. South Carolina (34.3 %), 15. – Tie: Indiana and Nebraska (34.1%), 17. Ohio (34.0%), 18. Delaware (33.5%), 19 – Tie: Michigan, North Carolina (33.0), 21. Georgia (32.5%), 22. New Mexico (32.3%), 23. Wisconsin (32.0%), 24. Illinois (31.8%), 25. – Tie: Maryland and Pennsylvania (30.9%), 27. Florida (30.7%), 28 – Tie: Maine and Virginia (30.4%), 30. Tie: Minnesota and South Dakota (30.1%), 32. Oregon (29.9 %), 33. New Hampshire (29.6%), 34. Three-way Tie: Alaska, Arizona and Nevada (29.5%), 37. Wyoming (29.0%), 38. Washington (28.7%), 39. Idaho (28.4%), 40. Utah (27.8%), 41. Rhode Island (27.7%), 42. New York (27.6%), 43. Vermont (27.5%), 44. Connecticut (27.4%), 45. Montana (26.9%), 46. California (25.8%), 47. – Tie: Massachusetts and New Jersey (25.7%), 49. Hawaii (24.9%), 50. District of Columbia (24.7%), 51. Colorado (23.0%).

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Trust for America’s Health is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that promotes optimal health for every person and community and makes the prevention of illness and injury a national priority.  www.tfah.org. Twitter: @healthyamerica1

 

 

 

 

Tasas de obesidad en Estados Unidos con altos récords históricos

Nueve estados alcanzan tasas de obesidad en adultos superiores al 35 por ciento

El Reporte demanda por Impuestos para las Bebidas Azucaradas, Programas Ampliados de Apoyo Nutricional SNAP y WIC y un entorno que fomente la actividad física para ayudar a abordar la crisis de salud

(Washington, DC) – 12 de septiembre de 2019 – Nueve estados de EE. UU. Tenían tasas de obesidad en adultos superiores al 35 por ciento en 2018, en comparación con siete estados en ese nivel en 2017, un nivel histórico de obesidad en los EE. UU., Según el 16 ° Estado anual de Obesidad: mejores políticas para un informe más saludable de América publicado hoy por el Trust for America’s Health (TFAH).

El informe basado en parte en datos recientemente publicados del Sistema de Vigilancia del Factor de Riesgo del Comportamiento (BRFSS, por su sigla en ingles) de los Centros para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades, y el análisis realizado por TFAH, proporciona las tasas de obesidad anuales en todo el país. La serie El estado de la obesidad y este informe fueron posibles gracias a el financiamiento de la Fundación Robert Wood Johnson.

La obesidad tiene graves consecuencias para la salud, incluido un mayor riesgo de diabetes tipo 2, presión arterial alta, accidente cerebrovascular y muchos tipos de cáncer. Se estima que la obesidad aumenta el gasto nacional en atención médica en $ 149 billones anuales (aproximadamente la mitad de lo cual es pagado por Medicare y Medicaid) y el sobrepeso y la obesidad es la razón más común por la que los adultos jóvenes no son elegibles para el servicio militar.

Las tasas de obesidad varían considerablemente entre los estados, con Mississippi y West Virginia con el nivel más alto de obesidad en adultos en la nación con 39.5 por ciento y Colorado con la tasa más baja con 23.0 por ciento.

Por primera vez, las tasas de obesidad en adultos superaron el 35 por ciento en nueve estados en 2018: Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Dakota del Norte y Virginia Occidental.

No muy lejos atrás en el 2012, ningún estado tenía una tasa de obesidad en adultos superior al 35 por ciento y en los últimos cinco años (2013 y 2018) 33 estados tuvieron incrementos estadísticamente significativos en sus tasas de obesidad en adultos.

“Estos últimos datos indican que nuestra crisis nacional de obesidad está empeorando”, dijo John Auerbach, presidente y director ejecutivo de Trust for America’s Health. “Nos dicen que casi 50 años después de la curva ascendente de las tasas de obesidad todavía no hemos encontrado la combinación correcta de programas para detener la epidemia”. Los programas aislados y los llamados a cambios en el estilo de vida no son suficientes. En cambio, nuestro informe destaca los cambios fundamentales que se necesitan en las condiciones sociales y económicas que hacen que sea difícil para las personas comer alimentos saludables y hacer suficiente ejercicio “.

Impacto diferencial entre las poblaciones minoritarias

El informe destaca que los niveles de obesidad están estrechamente vinculados a las condiciones socioeconómicas. Las personas con ingresos más bajos están más en riesgo. Las comunidades de color, que tienen más probabilidades de vivir en vecindarios con pocas opciones de alimentos saludables y actividad física, y que a menudo son el objetivo de una comercialización generalizada de alimentos poco saludables, también tienen un riesgo elevado.

A partir de 2015-2016, casi la mitad de los adultos latinos (47 por ciento) y los adultos negros (46.8) tenían obesidad, mientras que las tasas de obesidad entre adultos blancos y asiáticos fueron de 37.9 por ciento y 12.7 por ciento respectivamente. La incidencia de obesidad también fue más alta entre los niños latinos con un 25.8 por ciento, mientras que el 22 por ciento de los niños negros tienen obesidad, el 14 por ciento de los niños blancos tienen obesidad y el 11 por ciento de los niños asiáticos tienen obesidad.

¿Qué podría funcionar?

Si bien las tasas de obesidad son alarmantes, hay nuevos datos que ofrecen la promesa de políticas que combaten la obesidad, como promover alimentos más saludables para los niños a través de paquetes de alimentos renovados de WIC y fomentar el cambio de comportamiento a través de impuestos sobre las bebidas azucaradas.

  • Las tasas de obesidad para los niños inscritos en WIC (Programa Especial de Nutrición Suplementaria para Mujeres, Bebés y Niños) continúa disminuyendo, de 15.9 por ciento en 2010 a 13.9 por ciento en 2016. En 2009, el Departamento de Agricultura de los Estados Unidos (USDA, por su siglas en inglés) actualizó los paquetes de alimentos de WIC para cumplir más estrechamente con las recomendaciones nacionales. pautas dietéticas que incluyen la adición de más frutas, verduras y granos integrales y niveles reducidos de grasa en la leche y la fórmula infantil. Un estudio del condado de Los Ángeles publicado este año encontró que los niños de 4 años que habían recibido el paquete de alimentos WIC revisado desde su nacimiento habían reducido los riegos de padecer obesidad.
  • Varias ciudades de EE. UU. Y la Nación Navajo han aprobado impuestos locales sobre las bebidas azucaradas que se muestran prometedoras como un medio para cambiar los hábitos de bebidas de los consumidores. Los estudios de un impuesto de 1 centavo por onza en Berkeley, California y un impuesto de 1,5 centavos por onza en Filadelfia, Pensilvania, encontraron que el consumo de bebidas azucaradas disminuyó significativamente después de la imposición del impuesto.

“Políticas como estas están demostrando ser efectivas para cambiar el comportamiento. Pero, ninguna solución única, por prometedora que sea, es suficiente. La obesidad es un problema complejo y necesitará soluciones multisectoriales y multifactoriales “, dijo Auerbach de TFAH.

“Crear las condiciones que permitan a las personas tomar decisiones saludables con mayor facilidad es fundamental para prevenir la obesidad, al igual que priorizar la inversión en las comunidades más afectadas por la crisis”, dijo Auerbach.

Recomendaciones para la acción política

El informe incluye 31 recomendaciones para la acción política del gobierno federal, estatal y local, en varios sectores, diseñado para mejorar el acceso a alimentos nutritivos y proporcionar oportunidades seguras para la actividad física, al tiempo que minimiza las tácticas perjudiciales de marketing y publicidad.

Entre las recomendaciones del informe para las políticas para abordar la crisis de obesidad están:

  • Ampliar el Programa Especial de Nutrición Suplementaria para Mujeres, Bebés y Niños (WIC) a los 6 años para niños y durante dos años después del parto para las madres y financiar completamente el Programa de Orientación de Pares de WIC para la lactancia materna.
  • Aumentar el precio de las bebidas azucaradas mediante impuestos especiales y utilizar los ingresos para abordar las disparidades socioeconómicas y de salud.
  • Asegurarse de que los CDC tengan los recursos suficientes para otorgar a cada estado fondos apropiados para implementar estrategias de prevención de la obesidad basadas en evidencia (actualmente, los CDC solo tienen fondos suficientes para trabajar con 16 estados).
  • Hacer que sea más difícil comercializar alimentos no saludables para los niños al poner fin a los vacíos fiscales federales y las deducciones de costos comerciales relacionados con la publicidad de dichos alimentos para el público joven.
  • Financiar completamente el programa de Apoyo al Estudiante y Enriquecimiento Académico y otros programas federales que apoyan la educación física del estudiante.
  • Fomentar la actividad física segura mediante la financiación de Rutas Seguras a las Escuelas (SRTS), Complete Streets, Vision Zero y otras iniciativas de seguridad para peatones a través de fondos federales de infraestructura y transporte.
  • Asegurar de que los programas contra el hambre y la asistencia nutricional, como el Programa de Nutrición Suplementaria (SNAP), WIC y otros, sigan las Pautas dietéticas para estadounidenses y hagan del acceso a alimentos nutritivos un principio básico del programa.
  • Fortalecer y expandir los programas de nutrición escolar más allá de los estándares federales para incluir comidas universales, desayunos flexibles y eliminar todo el mercadeo de alimentos poco saludables para los estudiantes.
  • Hacer cumplir las leyes existentes que ordenan a la mayoría de las aseguradoras de salud que cubran los servicios preventivos relacionados con la obesidad sin costo compartido para los pacientes.
  • Cubrir el manejo del programa integral del peso pediátrico basado en evidencia y servicios en Medicaid.

Tasas de obesidad adulta por estado, de mayor a menor:

1. (Empatados): Mississippi and Virginia Occidental (39.5%), Arkansas (37.1%), 4. Louisiana (36.8%), 5. Kentucky (36.6%), 6. Alabama (36.2%), 7. Iowa (35.3%), 8. Dakota del Norte (35.1%), 9. Missouri, (35.0%), 10. – Empatados: Oklahoma and Texas (34.8%), 12. – Empatados: Kansas and Tennessee (34.4%), 14.  Carolina del Sur (34.3 %), 15. – : Indiana and Nebraska (34.1%), 17. Ohio (34.0%), 18. Delaware (33.5%), 19 – Empatados: Michigan, Carolina del Norte (33.0), 21. Georgia (32.5%), 22. Nuevo Mexico (32.3%), 23. Wisconsin (32.0%), 24. Illinois (31.8%), 25. – Empatados: Maryland and Pennsylvania (30.9%), 27. Florida (30.7%), 28 – Empatados: Maine and Virginia (30.4%), 30. Empatados: Minnesota and Dakota del Sur (30.1%), 32. Oregon (29.9 %), 33. New Hampshire (29.6%), 34. Empatados: Alaska, Arizona and Nevada (29.5%), 37. Wyoming (29.0%), 38. Washington (28.7%), 39. Idaho (28.4%), 40. Utah (27.8%), 41. Rhode Island (27.7%), 42. Nueva York (27.6%), 43. Vermont (27.5%), 44. Connecticut (27.4%), 45. Montana (26.9%), 46. California (25.8%), 47. – Empatados: Massachusetts and Nueva Jersey (25.7%), 49. Hawaii (24.9%), 50. Districto de Columbia (24.7%), 51. Colorado (23.0%).

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Trust for America’s Health es una organización sin fines de lucro y no partidista que promueve la salud óptima para cada persona y comunidad y hace de la prevención de enfermedades una prioridad nacional. WWW.tfah.org

 

Half of States Scored 5 or Lower Out of 10 Indicators in Report on Health Emergency Preparedness

Report Finds Funding to Support Base Level of Preparedness Cut More than Half Since 2002

 

Washington, D.C., December 19, 2017 – In Ready or Not? Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters and Bioterrorism, 25 states scored a 5 or lower on 10 key indicators of public health preparedness. Alaska scored lowest at 2 out of 10, and Massachusetts and Rhode Island scored the highest at 9 out of 10.

The report, issued today by the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH), found the country does not invest enough to maintain strong, basic core capabilities for health security readiness and, instead, is in a continued state of inefficiently reacting with federal emergency supplemental funding packages each time a disaster strikes.

According to Ready or Not?, federal funding to support the base level of preparedness has been cut by more than half since 2002, which has eroded advancements and reduced the country’s capabilities.

“While we’ve seen great public health preparedness advances, often at the state and community level, progress is continually stilted, halted and uneven,” said John Auerbach, president and CEO of TFAH.  “As a nation, we—year after year—fail to fully support public health and preparedness. If we don’t improve our baseline funding and capabilities, we’ll continue to be caught completely off-guard when hurricanes, wildfires and infectious disease outbreaks hit.”

Ready or Not? features six expert commentaries from public health officials who share perspectives on and experiences from the historic hurricanes, wildfires and other events of 2017, including from California, Florida, Louisiana and Texas.

The report also examines the nation’s ability to respond to public health emergencies, tracks progress and vulnerabilities, and includes a review of state and federal public health preparedness policies. Some key findings include:

  • Just 19 states and Washington, D.C. increased or maintained funding for public health from Fiscal Year (FY) 2015-2016 to FY 2016-2017.
  • The primary source for state and local preparedness for health emergencies has been cut by about one-third (from $940 million in FY 2002 to $667 million in FY 2017) and hospital emergency preparedness funds have been cut in half ($514 million in FY 2003 to $254 million in FY 2017).
  • In 20 states and Washington, D.C. 70 percent or more of hospitals reported meeting Antibiotic Stewardship Program core elements in 2016.
  • Just 20 states vaccinated at least half of their population (ages 6 months and older) for the seasonal flu from Fall 2016 to Spring 2017—and no state was above 56 percent.
  • 47 state labs and Washington, D.C. provided biosafety training and/or provided information about biosafety training courses (July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017).

The Ready or Not? report provides a series of recommendations that address many of the major gaps in emergency health preparedness, including:

  • Communities should maintain a key set of foundational capabilities and focus on performance outcomes in exchange for increased flexibility and reduced bureaucracy.
  • Ensuring stable, sufficient health emergency preparedness funding to maintain a standing set of core capabilities so they are ready when needed. In addition, a complementary Public Health Emergency Fund is needed to provide immediate surge funding for specific action for major emerging threats.
  • Strengthening and maintaining consistent support for global health security as an effective strategy for preventing and controlling health crises. Germs know no borders.
  • Innovating and modernizing infrastructure needs – including a more focused investment strategy to support science and technology upgrades that leverage recent breakthroughs and hold the promise of transforming the nation’s ability to promptly detect and contain disease outbreaks and respond to other health emergencies.
  • Recruiting and training a next generation public health workforce with expert scientific abilities to harness and use technological advances along with critical thinking and management skills to serve as Chief Health Strategist for a community.
  • Reconsidering health system preparedness for new threats and mass outbreaks.  Develop stronger coalitions and partnerships among providers, hospitals and healthcare facilities, insurance providers, pharmaceutical and health equipment businesses, emergency management and public health agencies.
  • Preventing the negative health consequences of climate change and weather-related threats. It is essential to build the capacity to anticipate, plan for and respond to climate-related events.
  • Prioritizing efforts to address one of the most serious threats to human health by expanding efforts to stop superbugs and antibiotic resistance. 
  • Improving rates of vaccinations for children and adults – which are one of the most effective public health tools against many infectious diseases.
  • Supporting a culture of resilience so all communities are better prepared to cope with and recover from emergencies, particularly focusing on those who are most vulnerable.   Sometimes the aftermath of an emergency situation may be more harmful than the initial event.  This must also include support for local organizations and small businesses to prepare for and to respond to emergencies.

The report was supported by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).

Score Summary: 

A full list of all of the indicators and scores and the full report are available on TFAH’s website.  For the state-by-state scoring, states received one point for achieving an indicator or zero points if they did not achieve the indicator.  Zero is the lowest possible overall score, 10 is the highest.  The data for the indicators are from publicly available sources or were provided from public officials.

9 out of 10: Massachusetts and Rhode Island

8 out of 10: Delaware, North Carolina and Virginia

7 out of 10: Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Minnesota, New York, Oregon and Washington

6 out of 10: California, District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia

5 out of 10: Georgia, Idaho, Maine, Mississippi, Montana and Tennessee

4 out of 10: Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania

3 out of 10: Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming

2 out of 10: Alaska

 Trust for America’s Health is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to saving lives by protecting the health of every community and working to make disease prevention a national priority.

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Omaha’s Efforts to Prevent and Respond to Childhood Lead Exposure

Background

Lead is a significant environmental health hazard to children in Omaha, home to the nation’s largest residential U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund site– a program that provides resources to address lead contamination in soil caused by an old refinery. In 1998, after it was revealed that nearly 10 percent of the children tested in Douglas County had blood lead levels higher than 10 µg/dL, the Omaha City Council requested assistance from the EPA. In 2003, Omaha was added to the Superfund National Priorities List, with approximately 14 square miles of residential property in East Omaha considered at high risk.

Superfund

In 1998, when the Omaha City Council requested EPA assistance to address the high frequency of children in eastern Omaha found by the Douglas County Health Department to have elevated blood lead levels, the EPA began investigating the lead contamination in the Omaha areas under the authority of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as the Superfund law.

After blood tests revealed elevated lead levels in nearly 600 children, the EPA formed the Omaha Lead Superfund Site in 1999, which has become the largest residential lead remediation in the country. Cleanup of residential properties included testing a wide array of soil in places like child care facilities, schools, playgrounds, parks, and homes; removal and replacement of contaminated soil; and planting new sod and grass seed.

The Douglas County Health Department Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program offers free inspections to families in Douglas County living in pre-1978 housing where children under seven-years-old live and play. Families with children who have been found to have elevated blood lead levels are given top priority. They also administer an EPA-funded interior dust program where residents who have had their soil remediated can receive education and a free HEPA vacuum.

EPA’s work is ending after it completed testing soil samples from 40,000 properties and cleaned up more than 12,000 properties that were contaminated with lead; however, the work of lead remediation will continue in partnership with the city. In May 2015, the EPA awarded $40 million to the City of Omaha through a cooperative agreement to address the final phases of the work, including ongoing attempts to collect soil samples and clean up the remaining properties. The rationale is that the owners of remaining properties will feel more at ease working with the city than with the federal government.

Updated Nuisance Ordinance

In December 2010, the Omaha City Council amended the “nuisance” chapter of the Omaha Municipal Code, adding lead-based paint to the list of specific examples of situations declared to be nuisances. Under the revised law, lead-based paint or other lead-based coating materials (such as liquid coatings on furniture) is a hazard and a “nuisance” on the interior or exterior of a home when it is accessible, or may become accessible, to ingestion or inhalation.

Once notified of a lead-based paint “nuisance,” a designated city officer and/or health director of the health department gives written “notice to abate” to the property owner and/or occupant or to the person causing the nuisance. If the person ordered to remove the hazard neither requests a hearing nor abates it within the specified time, the city will take care of it and bill the responsible party. In addition, that person may be fined up to $500 and/or imprisoned for up to six months for each day the nuisance remains.

Lead Hazard Control Program

A HUD-funded initiative, the City of Omaha Lead Hazard Control program, repairs interior lead-based paint hazards, including window and door replacement and paint stabilization, in homes occupied by children under age 7 within the boundaries of the Superfund site. The Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance (OHKA) works in tandem with this program to address additional environmental hazards and structural concerns, to provide education and referrals, and to monitor the program’s impact on health and track data.

OHKA is a nonprofit children’s environmental health organization working to improve children’s health through their Healthy Homes initiative. OHKA evaluates residences for health, safety, and environmental risks, works with families to create individual plans for a healthy home environment, and advocates for policies and best practices that promote health and protect children. It assists clients by delivering supplies, repairing houses, and referring them to community partners.

Grassroots Latino Environmental Education Program

OHKA partnered with the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s College of Public Health, Omaha community-based organizations, and the EPA in 2014 to launch the Grassroots Latino Environmental Education (GLEE) program. GLEE’s goal is to make information about environmental hazards more easily available in Spanish. Understanding that promotoras – community health workers – are effective at disseminating information to the Latino population, it was important to teach them about the connections between a person’s personal health and the environment in which they live. Through GLEE, OHKA trained more than 40 promotoras who educated over 1,000 Spanish-speaking Omaha residents in two years.

Lead Education Action Program

In 2016, OHKA received 6 years of funding from the EPA and the City of Omaha for the Lead Education Action Program (LEAP). The goal of the $5.4 million LEAP program is to support the City’s efforts to take over the Superfund cleanup activities, to educate the community about lead and healthy homes, and to direct residents to use the Omaha Lead Registry website, which is kept up-to-date with new information provided by government agencies, community groups, and private citizens.

One LEAP’s key initiatives is the Lead Free in Five campaign. Launched in October of 2016, with a convening of over 100 community leaders, the campaign aims to address childhood lead poisoning in Omaha through a community-wide strategy of policies, education, and infrastructure.
Results

In 2012, the Douglas County Health Department reported 119 children had tested positive for elevated blood lead levels, compared to 451 children in 1998. Not only were more children tested (17,294) in 2012 than had been previously  but only 0.5 percent of the children showed blood lead levels higher than 9.5 µg/dL, a marked decrease from 13 percent in 1998. As of June 2013, fewer than two percent of eastern Omaha children tested showed elevated lead levels, compared to 33 percent before the Superfund cleanup.

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In August, 2017, the Health Impact Project, a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and Pew Charitable Trusts released: Ten Policies to Prevent and Respond to Childhood Lead Exposure. The Trust for America’s Health (TFAH), National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH), Urban Institute, Altarum Institute, Child Trends and many researchers and partners contributed to the report. TFAH and NCHH worked with Pew, RWJF and local advocates and officials to put together the above case study about lead poisoning and prevention initiatives.

The case study does not attempt to capture everything a location is doing on lead, but aims to highlight some of the important work.

Live Well Omaha

Initiated in 1995, Live Well Omaha (LWO) is a community-led collaborative created out of a shared concern that no one organization in the community has the capacity to solve health disparity issues alone. With a focus on healthy eating and active living, and an interest in obesity prevention, LWO has more than 40 active partners from a variety of sectors—public/private organizations, nonprofit, businesses, educators, health systems, and insurance companies. As a result of LWO’s work, childhood obesity rates have been held constant in the Omaha community (from 2008 to 2012); 30 municipal bike-sharing stations have been created; the employer community has embraced healthy vending; and more than $7 million of investment funding has been brought into the Omaha metro area. LWO is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Communities Putting Prevention to Work and Community Transformation Grants. To read more about this innovative program, see this brief summary [link].