New York City Obesity Task Force: Interim Progress Report
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New York City Obesity Task Force: Interim Progress Report
December 2013
In May 2012, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced a plan, developed by a multi-agency
Obesity Task Force (OTF) he convened, to strengthen New York City’s anti-obesity efforts. The
Task Force, led by Deputy Mayors Linda Gibbs and Caswell Holloway, brought together
leadership of a dozen City agencies and offices and identified and recommended 26 initiatives
to accelerate progress toward reversing the obesity epidemic in New York City. Together, these
initiatives aimed at reducing obesity rates by 10 percent among adults and by 15 percent
among children by 2016. They also targeted improvement in key measures that are risk factors
for obesity: decreasing consumption of sugary drinks and increasing consumption of fruits and
vegetables among adults by 30 percent; and reducing the rate of adults who get no physical
activity by 15 percent by 2016.
In just 18 months since the Obesity Task Force Report and recommendations were announced
(www.nyc.gov/html/om/pdf/2012/otf_report.pdf), significant progress has been made toward
implementing the recommendations. Across the City, agencies have been engaged in building
and expanding programs, promoting awareness, conducting trainings and engaging in
policymaking to prevent obesity among children, encourage healthy eating, promote physical
activity, and make the City an example of healthy government practice. The efforts have
formed fundamental building blocks for a healthier environment: because of the Obesity Task
Force’s efforts, New Yorkers have better access to fruits and vegetables and increased
awareness of the harms of sugary drinks. New Food Standards have been developed and
implemented; hospitals have committed to improving the food environments for patients and
employees; nutrition has been improved in more than 800 summer camps, and salad bars and
water jets are operating in hundreds of schools. Community gardens have sprung up in low-
income neighborhoods, and large-scale urban agriculture projects are being developed in
several housing authority complexes. Physical activity opportunities have increased, and all city
agencies are required to incorporate design strategies that encourage physical activity into new
construction and major renovation projects. The Mayor launched the Center for Active Design,
dedicated to promoting wellness through the design of buildings, streets and communities.
Additionally, children in elementary schools are getting more regular physical activity, and
thousands of New Yorkers are using Citi Bike, the largest bike sharing program in the country.
Changing the food and physical activity environments and norms takes time. Many of the
Obesity Task Force initiatives are just getting underway and their impact cannot yet be
measured. Nonetheless, while the prevalence of obesity in New York City is not yet on a
sustained decline, we are starting to see signs of progress. New Yorkers are reducing their
consumption of sugary drinks and increasing their physical activity. Sustained and continued
improvement in these areas is key to turning the obesity epidemic around.
The following is an interim report on the City’s progress implementing the Obesity Task Force’s
recommendations. Thousands of hours of work and targeted resources have pushed the vast
majority of the Task Force’s recommendations into reality. A small number of initiatives have
proved particularly challenging and remain unfinished. Continued focus and innovation will
certainly be required to meet the ambitious targets for reducing obesity for 2016.
1New York City Obesity Task Force: Interim Progress Report
December 2013
Goals and Indicators by 2016 FY 2010 (baseline) Indicators FY 2012 Indicators
Reduce the Prevalence of Obesity:
A Reduce the percent of NYC adults who are obese by 10% (23.4% to 21.1%) 23.4% adults are obese 24.2% adults are obese
B Reduce the percent of children (K-8th grade) who are obese by 15% (20.7% to 17.6%) 20.7% children are obese No new data
Reduce the percent of adult New Yorkers:
C Consume one or more sugary drinks per day by 30% (30.3% to 21.2%) 30.3% consume 1+ SSB/day 28.2% consume 1+ SSB/day
D Consumed no servings of fruits and vegetables in the previous day by 30% (11.6% to 8.1%) 11.6% consumed no fruits + 12.5% consumed no fruits +
vegetables vegetables
E Reported no physical activity in the past 30 days by 15% (27.3% to 23.3%) 27.3% reported no physical 22.2% reported no physical
activity activity
# INITIATIVE DESCRPTION OF RECOMMENDATION AGENCY(IES) UPDATES STATUS
Prevent Obesity in Children
1 Promote and expand the Department of 1. Increasing the School Wellness Council DOE, DOHMH 125 grants awarded in 2012- ★COMPLETE
Education’s nutrition and wellness Grant program, which allocates $2,500 to 2013, up from 50 grants the
efforts schools that develop Wellness Councils and previous year, reaching
activities to an additional 75 schools per year, 78,000 students
2. creating DOE staff “Wellness Coordinators”
to provide technical assistance and
implementation support to schools seeking to
enhance their environments,
3. linking health and nutrition education to the
school environment, particularly in the school
cafeteria
2 Install water jets in school cafeterias to Adding more than 700 new water jets in DOE During FY13, DOE added 438 ✔On track
promote student’s preference for and schools and reaching the vast majority of City water jets to City schools,
consumption of water students bringing the total number of
water jets to 789.
3 Expand the school gardens initiative to Increasing school garden grants by 50 DOE, DOHMH, 350 schools registered with ✔On track
teach students about the origin and taste additional grants per year Mayor's Office Grow to Learn as of
of healthy food September 2013
2New York City Obesity Task Force: Interim Progress Report
December 2013
# INITIATIVE DESCRPTION OF RECOMMENDATION AGENCY(IES) UPDATES STATUS
4 Install salad bars in NYC schools Installing salad bars in all NYC public schools DOE During 2012-2013 school ✔On track
city-wide year DOE installed 300 salad
bars, bringing the total
number in city schools to
1,379 in over 1,000 sites as
of July 2013
5 Improve nutrition at City-licensed Amending the New York City Health Code to DOHMH Board of Health adopted ★COMPLETE
children's camps create nutrition guidelines for the new guidelines on DATE
approximately 1,000 City permitted children’s
camps. Proposed changes will focus on
avoiding sugary drinks
6 Increase physical activity for elementary Expanding Move-to-Improve capacity to train DOE, DOHMH 3,482 trained teachers in MTI ✔On track
children through Move-To-Improve (MTI) most public school classroom teachers to date. We also have 45 MTI
All-Star schools (schools with
85% or more of teachers
trained) and expect that
number to grow in the
second half of the academic
year.
7 Expand Kids in Motion, free physical Hiring additional playground attendants to DPR Attendance increased by ✔On track
activity programs in City parks administer Kids in Motion, especially in 12% citywide, and more than
neighborhoods with high obesity rates,. doubled at OTF-funded sites;
300,000+ visits to the
program over the course of 8
weeks; Increased the
number of free summer
meals served at Kids in
Motion sites, serving more
than 50,000 meals
8 Share play spaces across programs such Conducting a needs assessment to identify Mayor's Office Convened multiple agencies X DELAYED
as Head Start and Shape Up NYC space shortfalls & potential space-sharing to discuss their needs and
opportunities for daycares, after school opportunities; specific
programs, and senior centers, among other updates still in progress.
programs.
3New York City Obesity Task Force: Interim Progress Report
December 2013
# INITIATIVE DESCRPTION OF RECOMMENDATION AGENCY(IES) UPDATES STATUS
9 Increase active transportation initiatives Expanding curriculum support on the benefits DOT, DOE ★COMPLETE
in schools of active transportation as well as route
planning resources to 200 schools.
Additionally, drop off points near safe walking
corridors will be established in neighborhoods
where students are not walking based on
safety concerns or because their parents need
to drive them to get to their jobs.
Encourage Healthy Eating
10 Establish a maximum size for sugary Setting a maximum size for sugary drinks DOHMH Board of Health promulgated X DELAYED
drinks in Food Service Establishments offered and sold in restaurants and other Food requirements but legal
Service Establishments challenges have stalled
implementation; case
pending before the NYS
Court of Appeals
11 Public education campaigns The City will continue to develop eye-catching DOHMH 4 campaigns aired in total; 1 ✔On track
media campaigns to help the public remaining
understand the health implications of
overconsumption of large portions and sugary
drinks
12 Healthy Hospital Initiative Standards Hospitals throughout the city will be invited to DOHMH, HHC Updated list of partners ★COMPLETE
adopt the New York City Healthy Hospital here:
Initiative Standards for settings including http://www.nyc.gov/html/d
vending and cafeterias, which give employees, oh/html/living/cardio-
patients, and visitors better access to healthy hospital-food-initiative.shtml
food and beverages.
13 Healthy food pantries and soup kitchens The NYC DOHMH will develop DOHMH, Healthy Pantries Initiative ★COMPLETE
best nutrition practices for the City’s nearly Mayor's Office launched fall 2013; Cut the
500 EFAP pantries. An education component Junk booklets distributed to
for those frequenting these programs will also HRA's emergency food
be provided to help them better understand program partners
health concerns about obesity and how to
access, store, and cook healthier food.
4New York City Obesity Task Force: Interim Progress Report
December 2013
# INITIATIVE DESCRPTION OF RECOMMENDATION AGENCY(IES) UPDATES STATUS
14 Urban agriculture @ NYCHA NYCHA will seek to partner with nonprofit DOHMH, NYCHA issued an RFP seeking ✔On track
developments organizations to develop five one-acre farm NYCHA, partners for 5 one acre sites.
sites and provide programming, including a Mayor's Office
job training component. Sites may result in
farmers markets, education programming for
youth, or activities for seniors, depending on
the projects’ focus and development.
15 Create new community garden sites 15 municipal sites suitable for urban Mayor's 20 sites were made available ✔On track
agriculture projects will be identified in the Office, DPR for community groups to
South Bronx, East and Central Harlem, and apply for in Spring 2013
North and Central Brooklyn, to target areas through the Garden's for
most in need. These sites will be made Healthy Communities
available through GreenThumb, a program Initiative. To date 13 sites
administered by the NYC Parks and Recreation have been assigned to
Department, and established to support urban community groups, 3 sites
gardeners and farmers are being relocated.
16 Expanding healthy food access in the Add EBT (SNAP benefit) machines to 100 DOHMH, DCP, 94 Green Carts can now ✔On track
retail environment produce vendors in low-income Mayor's Office accept SNAP benefits.
neighborhoods; increase Health Bucks Health Bucks was expanded
program by 50%; launch “Shop Healthy NYC,” to all farmers markets in
is a community based approach to encourage 2012, more than doubling
retailers to take specific steps such as offering the reach or the program.
lower calorie and lower sodium items, fresh Shop Healthy NYC was
produce, and healthy meal options. launched in July of 2012.
The FRESH program was
expanded to Hallet's Point in
Queens.
17 Access to NYC tap water Promote and expand NYC tap water DEP, Mayor's Completed its fourth ✔On track
consumption in public spaces by working with Office successful WOTG season
retail partners, testing a working prototype of attracting close to 600,000
a redesigned “NYC Water Fountain,” and users, updated the online
growing programs such as Water-On-the-Go app and brought NYC tap
(WOTG). These efforts will be accompanied by water to more locations
an education campaign informing New Yorkers across the five boroughs.
of the high quality of NYC tap water.
5New York City Obesity Task Force: Interim Progress Report
December 2013
# INITIATIVE DESCRPTION OF RECOMMENDATION AGENCY(IES) UPDATES STATUS
Promote Physical Activity
18 Establish a Center for Active Design Establish a “Center for Active Design” (CAD), a DDC, Mayor's Launched on July 17, 2013 ★COMPLETE
unique public/private partnership supporting Office
the design and development community to
create an active built environment across NYC
and ultimately the country.
19 Facilitate active stair design in buildings • Promote Exit Stairway Use for Daily Access DDC, DOHMH, 2 bills still pending in City X DELAYED
between Floors DOB, OLTPS Council with no hearing date
• Increase Stairway Visibility with Glazed Doors set
• Promote Stair Use Through Signage
Increase Access with Open Stairway Doors
with Fail-Safe-Hold-Open Devices
20 Increase physical activity for adults and Offer 100 new indoor classes, 100 new DPR, DOHMH ★COMPLETE
seniors by expanding the Shape Up NYC outdoor classes per week at City Parks
Program facilities. An additional 100 weekly classes led
by new instructors trained in the Fitness
Instructor Training Program
21 Launch the Citi Bike Program 10,000 bicycles & 600 docking stations, serving DOT In the first 200 days since the ★COMPLETE
large portions of Manhattan and Brooklyn and launch, Citi Bike users took
part of Queens 5.8 million trips for more
than 11 million miles. The
system currently has 95,000
annual members and
another 350,000 have
purchased daily and weekly
memberships. Since the
launch, New Yorkers make
an estimated 113,000 trips
on personal and bike share
bicycles combined daily in
the bike share service area
alone. (DOT press releases
for the latest statistics:
www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html
/pr2012/pr12_42.shtml)
6New York City Obesity Task Force: Interim Progress Report
December 2013
# INITIATIVE DESCRPTION OF RECOMMENDATION AGENCY(IES) UPDATES STATUS
Lead By Example
22 Evaluate all City construction projects for New policy for all requests-for-proposals, DDC, DOB, Executive Order and Mayoral ★COMPLETE
active design opportunities contracts, standards, and guidelines that Mayor's press event 7/17/2013
regulate new construction and major Office,
renovation projects for the City that will DOHMH
require a project review of the ADGs &
incorporation of active design strategies
23 Offer wellness program to NYC Working with our partners in labor, we will Mayor's The issuance of the RFP has X DELAYED
employees with focus on healthy eating explore how we can add a wellness program to Office, DCAS been enjoined and the City is
and fitness the City’s health care plans. While the appealing.
specifics of such a program must be worked
out, typical features of wellness programs
include health-risk assessments and
screenings, weight management and exercise
programs, health education—including classes
or referrals to online sites for health advice—
and changes in the work environment to
encourage exercise and healthy eating.
24 Adopt expanded NYC Food Standards at Expanding these standards to include the food DOHMH, Memo to all agency heads ★COMPLETE
all City agencies to include food served at and beverages provided at all City meetings, Mayor's Office announcing the Standards
meetings, trainings, and events trainings, and events will not only contribute on March 22, 2013.
to a healthy, balanced diet, but it also will
promote good health among employees.
7New York City Obesity Task Force: Interim Progress Report
December 2013
# INITIATIVE DESCRPTION OF RECOMMENDATION AGENCY(IES) UPDATES STATUS
25 Improve and expand the identification a. Health and Hospitals Corporation will DOHMH, DOE, ★COMPLETE
and treatment of obese children & their develop new pediatric obesity guidelines for HHC
families at NYC hospitals and schools its pediatricians and family physicians to
screen for and diagnose obesity among
children. Such guidelines should be used to
counsel children and parents on change
related to diet and physical activity by
referring them to services within HHC
facilities and resources offered by external
organizations.
b. The NYC DOHMH will broaden its Healthy Assessments behind targets X DELAYED
Options and Physical Activity Program in due to disruptions of
Schools that helps children in NYC public Hurricane Sandy
schools who are struggling with high levels
of excess weight. Following a clinical
assessment, school nurses educate these
at-risk students and make referrals to
primary care physicians and community
organizations to address students’ needs.
26 Examine sidewalk and stairway design Conduct two studies with the goal of creating a DDC, City Sidewalk study completed; ✔On track
improvements to increase active set of best practices on sidewalk and stairway Planning stairway study to be
lifestyles design...[to] broaden our understanding of the completed by end of year
various agencies and regulations that shape
our sidewalk experience in New York City and
a similar study on stair design will help
developers comprehend how to make them
more attractive and visible. Together, the
findings will provide a resource to inform how
new developments and neighborhoods are
designed and built for a healthier New York.
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