Texas Ranked Last Again: Girls, Obesity and More News for the Week

UPDATE: I edited this post in three ways. First, new budget estimates came out this week suggesting an even larger deficit than the $11 billion I wrote about Friday. I also wanted to clarify that another state actually ranks worse than Texas in child obesity overall. Finally, I added links on the other two "worsts" for children's health (coverage and health outcome gaps) mentioned here.

With budget battles looming for Texas, news agencies have started to ask how our leaders might handle the more up to an $18 billion shortfall. Many past proposals haven't actually shrunk the budget, the Austin American Statesman reported. Others have been costly to children, as the Dallas Morning News notes today. Unfortunately, too few leaders are speaking out about the clear need for a balanced approach that not only focuses on getting the books straight in 2011, but also ensures future sustainability for Texas.

The importance of investing with the future in mind is most clear when we see other states—sometimes all of them—pass us by. This week, Texas received more bad news about the consequences of missed opportunities to put children on a path to success. To thrive, kids need a healthy start, access to nutritious food and regular doctor's visits, and environments conducive to exercise. Yet past research has found our state has the highest rate of children with no health coverage in the country and the biggest gap in children's health between low-income and high-income families.

Now this week, the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine published a new study comparing childhood obesity among states, where Texas wound up ranked last once again, this time in obesity among girls (Mississippi has the highest childhood obesity rate overall). Nationally, girls' rates of overweight are climbing faster than boys', so the trend is concerning. According to the state Comptroller's office, obesity already costs Texas businesses more than $3 billion per year. If the problem goes unaddressed, by 2025 that cost will climb to nearly $16 billion.

Obesity is just one problem where coming together to put our children on a path to success is the right choice—not only to improve young lives but also to ensure our own solvency as a state. Learn more about the issues—and even a possible new revenue stream some states are discussing that could address child obesity, a soda and sweetened beverage tax— in our news and reports round-up below.

News and Reports Weekly Round-Up

Child and Maternal Health

5.7.10 Children 's Insurance Program Rebounds, But More Cuts Feared (Dallas Morning News)

5.6.10 To Do for Texas Kids: State Needs to Plug Gaps Left by Federal Health Reform (Houston Chronicle)

5.5.10 Soda in America: Children and Families(NPR)

5.4.10 Soda in America: Taxes and a Debate Over Health (NPR)

5.3.10 Comprehensive City-School Strategies to Address Child Obesity (National League of Cities)

5.3.10 Give Babies Room to Breathe (Texas Department of Family and Protective Services)

5.3.10 Obesity a Bigger Threat to Kids in Southern States (HealthDay)

More Health News...

Child Protection

5.2.10 May is National Foster Care Month (Children’s Bureau Express)