Resolving America's obesity epidemic is a major priority for government and private funders.
One out of every three children and more than two out of every three adults in the United States are overweight or obese. Federal and state governments, along with several nonprofit organizations and private foundations, have prioritized resolving this national crisis by funding obesity research, including trials designed to determine which interventions work the best. Grant seekers can also tap into existing grant programs to fund programs that help obese people have better access to healthy foods and recreational opportunities.
New Federal Government Grants
The National Institutes of Health's strategic plan for obesity research calls for the agency to support a wide variety of research, clinical trials, interventions and educational programs. The NIH has 27 individual institutes, and several of them have missions that focus on weight control and related diseases, including the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. The NIH partners with other agencies, like the Centers for Disease Control, and private organizations, like the National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research, or NCCOR, to fund studies. For example in 2010, the agency promised $72.5 million to study what works for youth at school and at home. According to the White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity, federal agencies are making about $60 million available to community organizations starting in 2010. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services supports obesity prevention and screening services. The Department of Education is making more money available for physical education programs in schools.
Existing Federal Government Resources
Nonprofit organizations seeking grant money from the federal government can tap long-standing programs to support obesity-related efforts. The following agencies fund organizations that widen access to healthy foods in urban and rural regions, as well as create more play space and recreational facilities for Americans: the USDA's Farmers' Market Promotion Program, Specialty Crop Block Grants, Community Food Projects, Community Facilities Program, Healthy Urban Food Enterprise Development Center, and Sustainable Communities Regional Planning grants; HHS' Community Economic Development Program; and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, Community Development Block Grant and Choice Neighborhood Initiative and HUD's Community Development Block Grant program and Department of Transportation Transportation Enhancement program. Contact each federal agency for additional details. Some grants require you go through a local agency to apply.
Nonprofit and Foundation Grants
NCCOR is one of many nonprofit organizations pooling funding for community-level obesity treatment programs. The Obesity Society funds scientific researchers and offers grants to learn the art of proposal writing as well as travel to obesity-related meetings. Other nonprofits and foundations that fund obesity research include the National Association for Sports and Physical Education, and the Robert Wood Johnson, Nemours, W.K. Kellogg, Wal-Mart, Obesity Prevention and the Jared foundations. Dozens of universities also support academic research, usually in the form of pilot and feasibility studies.
Corporations
Corporations contribute about 65 percent of all scientific research and development in the United States, reports "Discover" magazine. Corporations known to fund obesity-related projects include PepsiCo, Weight Watchers, Clorox, Heinz, NutriSystem, Wal-Mart, major sports leagues and numerous pharmaceutical companies.
