April 4, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
Several philanthropy experts and other blog writers have raised questions about today’s announcement that the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, in Princeton, N.J., plans to award $500-million to fight childhood obesity.
Lucy Bernholz, a consultant to donors and foundations, writes in her blog, Philanthropy 2173, that she would like to know more details about the Johnson plan.
“How will it intersect with other disease-specific public health actions? With food-labeling efforts? Physical activity? Corporate responsibility? International trade?” she asks.
“And what will be the unintended consequences—if the effort is successful in the U.S.—for other parts of the globe, other U.S. populations, other industries?” she asks.
For example, she writes that anti-tobacco efforts, which Johnson supported, are considered a success in America, but helped push the tobacco industry to sell more cigarettes overseas.
(Readers with Chronicle subscriptions or online passes can read more about those efforts by clicking on this link.)
Other blog writers are more skeptical, if cynical, about anti-obesity programs.
Katie Gray, a student in Boston, writes on her personal blog, Scholar of the Dark Armchair, that Americans should consider that a potential solution to overweight children may not require half-a-billion dollars.
“It’s well to remind ourselves how much can be done for free with a little foresight, willpower, and common sense,” she writes.
Discuss your thoughts about the Johnson award by clicking on the link just below this posting.
