Healthy Kids, Healthy Future

Childhood Obesity In the News

We are just one month into the New Year, but many exciting advancements in the childhood obesity prevention field have already occurred.

December marked the first meeting of the Healthy Kids, Healthy Future (HKHF) Steering Committee, a group of the nation’s top experts and leaders in the obesity prevention and early care fields. The members convened to discuss and establish a national action plan for moving the field forward in follow up to September’s HKHF conference. Members broke out to develop action plans in three areas: Policy, Best Practice/Tool Dissemination and Research/Monitoring/Evaluation. A second meeting of the Steering Committee, entitled “Child Care 101: Overview and Everyday Practice,” will be held on February 1. This meeting will allow experts in the child care field to present a perspective on the realities of current child care settings. Speakers will include: Helen Blank, Director of Leadership and Public Policy, National Women’s Law Center, Bob Siegel, National Director, Easter Seals Children’s Services, and Denise Dowell, Director of Strategic Campaigns, Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA), AFSCME. Updates from this meeting, as well as future forums will be posted on the www.healthykidshealthyfuture.com website.

The release of the The Surgeon General’s Vision for a Healthy and Fit Nation 2010 is an extremely exciting advancement for the obesity prevention in early care and education field. For the first time, the Surgeon General’s vision of addressing obesity includes a recommendation for “creating healthy child care settings.” She is poised to partner with the First Lady, Michelle Obama, to address the nation’s childhood obesity epidemic. (http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2010pres/01/20100128c.html) . The Surgeon General, Regina Benjamin, M.D., urges that “child care programs should identify and implement approaches that reflect expert recommendations on physical activity, screen time limitations, good nutrition, and healthy sleep practices,” all of which were key actions at the Healthy Kids, Healthy Future conference in September 2009. Action steps to support the Surgeon General’s goal of standardizing state regulations on physical activity, nutrition and screen time, are being addressed by the HKHF Steering Committee. Through changes in policy, dissemination and implementation of best practices, and continued development of the evidence base in research, the child care environment will become a healthier place for kids to grow and develop.

For the full statement from the Surgeon General, please click HERE

***Please send us any updates from your work or additional news relevant to the Healthy Kids Healthy Future agenda of supporting obesity prevention/health promotion in early care and education settings.