The fight against childhood obesity in Arkansas has a new weapon, money.

The Arkansas Tobacco Settlement Commission (ATSC) has announced the establishment of a new $700,000 grant program to combat childhood obesity and promote childhood wellness in Arkansas’s schools.

In a report released this summer by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Arkansas ranked second in the nation, only surpassed by Mississippi, in the number of children struggling with childhood obesity. Over thirty-seven percent (37.5-percent) of Arkansas’s children are considered overweight and obese.* Childhood obesity puts Arkansas’s young people at increased risk of developing diabetes, hypertension, and other negative health conditions. Children who are overweight and obese have lower grades and test scores when compared to children who are within an average weight range.

In order to combat the epidemic of childhood obesity, the Arkansas Tobacco Settlement Commission has partnered with the Arkansas Department of Education's Office of Coordinated School Health and Arkansas Children's Hospital to implement the “Child Wellness Intervention Program,” (CWIP). The CWIP grant program will support and promote quality physical education in a public school setting throughout Arkansas.

“Schools work to foster a culture of healthy habits for their students, because healthy children perform better at school,” Governor Mike Beebe said. “This grant will create and improve physical-education opportunities that reach beyond the school day and become an ingrained part of children’s lives.”

The new CWIP grant program will provide schools with the resources, knowledge, and tools to effectively address childhood obesity for their local students. The CWIP grant will cover costs of research-based health education curriculum, physical education equipment, and vital teacher training for awarded schools.

The CWIP Grant Program letter of intent deadline has been extended to Friday, October 30, 2009. Final grant applications are due on Friday, November 20. Interested public schools may click here to find more information on the CWIP Grant Program and to access the grant application forms.

*F as in Fat: HOW OBESITY POLICIES ARE FAILING IN AMERICA – 2009