Using Head Start to Jump Start the Health of U.S. Kids

Shannon Rudisill with the official food pyramid

Head Start, which provides federal grants for child development to economically disadvantaged children and families, serves more than 900,000 children in America each year.  According to Katrina Holt, director of the National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center at Georgetown University, it could be the perfect place to pilot new programs that promote health.

“Head Start is a great vehicle for prevention and early intervention,” Holt explained.  “And it addresses our most vulnerable populations.”

Indeed, many Head Start participants are eligible for Medicaid and, because of their income level, may be at a higher risk for poor health.  Wellness promotion programs to address nutrition, oral health and obesity prevention, Holt said, would be a tremendous benefit to children in the program.

“Rates of obesity are higher with this group,” Holt said.  “They’re the ones we want to reach most.”

In addition to serving this important group, Head Start has a screening and assessment system already in place to track the health of its participants.  For a pilot program to show useable results, these data would be critical, Holt explained.

This potential is not lost on Head Start, which is piloting several health promotion programs among its grantees.  The “I Am Moving, I Am Learning” program, for example, combats childhood obesity with more time for physical activity, more structured play facilitated by trained teachers, and more nutritious food for children each day.

The challenge, according to Shannon Rudisill, associate director of the Child Care Bureau at the Administration for Children and Families, HHS, is to “take the fantastic, well-evaluated ideas in the public domain developed by Head Start and implement them more broadly.”

Building the case for early health interventions with solid results from pilot programs in Head Start, Holt explained, will be essential to expanding such programs to reach all children in the U.S.

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Other Links to this Post

1. Healthy Kids, Healthy Future » Guest Post: Jim Sallis on Physical Activity and Childcare — September 24, 2009 @ 10:37 am

2. Healthy Kids, Healthy Future » Day Two Wrap-Up: Healthy Kids, Healthy Future — October 17, 2009 @ 10:12 am

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