The healthy side of stimulus spending: Weight Watchers and access to a gym

Stimulus money, where did it all go? Some went to sending women to Weight Watchers and a local gym to help them get in shape before they start having children.

The idea was to try to reduce Baltimore’s infant mortality rate, which is almost twice that of the state. A Baltimore Sun story explains how the city used federal funds to develop the program for women in their teens through mid-30s. It says:

“To make a true dent in the problem, officials realized, they needed to focus on women’s health before conception. Last year, Health Department staff began noticing more overweight women entering their home-visiting programs, which aid low-income women in high-risk pregnancies. And in examining the city’s 128 fetal and infant deaths in 2009, many of the births were to overweight and obese women, they found.”

The women in the program did shed weight, and officials are seeking more federal funds to extend the program. But it won’t come from stimulus money -- that’s long gone.