Support grant program to train early care and education staff

A second piece of exciting news that we would like to pass on to you is Senator Mark Udall’s (D-CO) introduction of an amendment to the Senate health reform bill that, if passed, enacted into law and funded, would establish a grant program to train early care and education staff in best practices for obesity prevention and health promotion.  This is exactly what many of you called for at the conference!  You can support this amendment by signing on to the attached letter per the instructions below from our friends at the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH).

Senator Mark Udall’s office is planning to introduce an amendment to the health reform bill that would promote physical activity, healthy eating, and childhood obesity prevention in the very important setting of the childcare environment. The amendment would establish a three year CDC pilot program that would provide grants to five state health departments (or other childcare licensing entities within the State) to provide or contract to provide training to staff at childcare centers and family childcare homes. The training would focus on healthy eating and physical activity policies and practices that could be implemented in child care settings. Childcare centers with trained staff would then receive grant funds to implement these practice and policy changes. Best practices and lessons learned would be disseminated at the conclusion of the pilot and would be incorporated into future CDC guidance documents.

With leadership from TFAH, Nemours and others provided input to this legislation which closely mirrors the successful model Nemours Health and Prevention Services implemented in Delaware. Attached is the text of the amendment, as well as a sign on letter of support. Senator Udall’s staff has requested a Friday deadline for sign on of the letter. If you have questions or would like to sign on, please contact Daniella Gratale of Trust for America’s Health at dgratale@tfah.org.

Supporting Documents

• Support Letter
• Amendment to Health Reform Bill

Healthy Kids Healthy Future National Steering Committee To Meet Dec. 16

As we mentioned in the closing comments of the Healthy Kids Healthy Future Conference, the meeting may be over, but the real work lies ahead. As a result of your participation and collaboration, many energized and motivated attendees have continued working together to break down silos and support obesity prevention/heath promotion in early care and education settings.

As a next step to continue advancing the field, Debbie Chang of Nemours and Dr. Bill Deitz of CDC discussed forming a Healthy Kids, Healthy Future Steering Committee, intended to support continued collaboration among the field’s top leaders, and have moved forward with that. The committee will follow up on the many ideas generated at the conference to move the field forward; will continue sharing best practices and policies to encourage dissemination and adoption in the states; and will partner on other innovative strategies to improve children’s health in child care settings, including policy change and research.

At the first meeting on December 16th, the committee members will roll up their sleeves and draft a strategic plan which we will share with all of you.

Webinar to Highlight Child Care Evaluation Efforts on Dec. 10

A webinar on current quality improvements in childcare settings will be held next week on Thursday, Dec. 10 at 12 noon EST. This webinar will highlight the work of researchers in the field who are evaluating efforts to make childcare settings a place for active and healthy kids.  We hope that you will be able to join and wanted to ask if you would please spread the word to the people that you know who work in this field who would be interested in attending this webinar.

 www.reversechildhoodobesity.org/webinars. 

Nemours Testifies in Support of Strengthening Child Nutrition Programs to Combat Obesity

Nemours submitted testimony to the Senate Agriculture Committee last week as part its hearing, “Reauthorization of US Child Nutrition Programs:  Opportunities to Fight Hunger and Improve Child Health.”  We agree with that the federal child nutrition programs offer a critical safety net to ensure proper nutrition in support of children’s’ healthy development. We believe that improving nutritional and physical activity standards in early care and education settings can help children and their families establish healthy habits which will last a lifetime. Nemours has developed a number of best practices and tools to encourage healthy eating and physical activity in all the places children live, learn and play, including child care settings. Our testimony, which build on our experience as a model in Delaware, can be downloaded here.

If you would like further information about Nemours’ model work to promote children’s healthy development or our stance on federal policy opportunities to do the same, contact Anne De Biasi at adebiasi@nemours.org or 202-457-1440, ext. 305.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Hosts Webinar on Childhood Obesity

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is hosting a free webinar, Let’s End the Childhood Obesity Epidemic, today at noon.

The webinar will discuss the various opportunties in implementing healthy policy changes at the federal, state and local level. Debbie Chang, vice president of policy and prevention at Nemours, is a featured speaker.

Visit the seminar site to learn more and register today!

UPDATE – Presentation from Debbie Chang and additional materials provided on Compendium Page

Photos from the Conference

View photos from the Healthy Kids Healthy Future Conference. Thanks to all the participants and speakers who attended and made it a great success. You can also view the gallery on Flickr.

AP article on the important role of child care in obesity prevention

The Associated Press recently published an article focusing on the important role child care centers play in teaching children healthy habits at a young age. It spotlights the partnership of Nemours Health and Prevention Services and the Latin American Community Center in Wilmington, DE.

Go to the article – “Day care next frontier in fighting kids’ obesity”

A Few Minutes with Dr. David Bailey, CEO of Nemours

From left to right - Dr. David Bailey, CEO of Nemours, with Dr. Bill Dietz of the CDC. Debbie Chang, VP of Policy and Prevention, Nemours, in background.

Nemours CEO David Bailey, MD, MBA, talks about why Nemours is making the investment in early childhood health promotion.

With so many other issues at stake in health care and health reform, why convene this meeting of experts on early childhood and obesity prevention?

First of all, Nemours is invested in prevention services for children.  Six years ago, we changed our mission statement to reflect the pursuit of optimal health for all children, in addition to excellence in health care and treatment. Since launching the division that focuses on population health, Nemours Health and Prevention Services, we’ve always had child care as one of four pillars of our prevention strategy.

If we can reach kids at home and in their communities, in school, in their doctor’s office, and in child care, we can provide a surround sound approach that significantly improves the chance that kids will grow up healthy.

We’ve found that when it comes to health promotion and obesity prevention, not as much attention is being paid to child care as it is to other areas, such as schools, transportation and mobility, land use, food labeling and marketing, etc.  So along with our colleagues at CDC, RWJ Foundation, and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, we decided to create a forum where leading edge people in child care quality and obesity prevention at the state and national levels could get together and learn from each other and identify promising practices to move the field of child health promotion forward.

What was the most important outcome of this meeting?

I think the attendance and recognition by Secretary Vilsack about the importance of early nutrition and health promotion; the face-to-face dialogue among the experts; the examples of successful programs from the states that were presented; and the emphasis on health as a part of high quality child care that can be tied to states’ quality rating systems and incentives. This means setting limits and rules for foods and beverages and balancing active time and sedentary time. In other words, when child care does a good job of not only teaching, nurturing and ensuring kids’ safety, but also of addressing nutrition and fitness for young children, they should be recognized and rewarded for it.

It’s interesting that Nemours, a children’s health system based in Delaware and Florida, has this national agenda. It seems unusual – is it?

Completely. In fact, Nemours is the only children’s health network, to our knowledge, that is working to effect change at the population level and is lobbying in the interests of kids everywhere, not just their constituents. As Congress works to reform our health system, there is an opportunity to focus on wellness and establish a funding stream for disease prevention and health promotion, especially when those services are linked to traditional health care services. This ensures that the systems of care and all the practitioners who care for children are coordinated in supporting the health of kids and their families. Nemours is a pioneering example of an integrated health care organization that links community-based prevention with clinical care.

2012: Predictions for Healthier Childcare

Group brainstorm: The Year is 2012

Before the conference participants went their separate ways, they came together for a final group brainstorm.  The question: The year is 2012.  What progress and policy change can we hope to have achieved toward the goal of healthier childcare environments?

Physical activity

• A dedicated indoor space for physical activity and play in all child care facilities
• Joint-use agreements for use of school facilities after hours

Nutrition:

• A strong, balanced Child Nutrition Act reauthorization
• Consistent nutrition standards for Head Start, Women, Infants and Children (WIC), Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), and others
• A single entry point for each family into all federally-funded health, nutrition and cash assistance — potentially using the U.S. Post Office as the point of entry

Oral health:

• BMI and dentist visits within the last 12 month added to the immunization registry

Research gaps:

• A conference of physical activity and healthy eating experts to examine the research that exists, identify gaps, and develop a research agenda for gathering the cost-effectiveness data we need

Collaboration:

• Assemble a wide array of partners — including those normally left out — to adopt and implement a common set of nutrition standards for childcare

Joe Thompson’s Reactions

Below is a brief interview with Joseph Thompson, MD, MPH, director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity.

Joe Thompson

What did you think of Secretary Vilsack’s opening remarks, particularly any of the USDA programs or cross-departmental collaboration?

Secretary Vilsack laid out an exciting and forward looking agenda to improve, coordinate, and integrate programs benefiting children and families supported by Federal programs. The USDA operates many programs supporting the nutritional needs of American families—the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Women, Infants, and Children’s program (WIC), Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), and school breakfast and lunch programs through the Child Nutrition Act (CNA). He also clearly identified opportunities to work across Departments including Health and Human Services and Education to identify opportunities to improve the programs and maximize their impact. We clearly have an opportunity through the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act to enhance these important programs and promote healthy choices – especially for those most in need – and the Secretary has laid out our charge well.

In the Q&A following his remarks, you asked Secretary Vilsack about how to best identify and overcome the existing barriers to progress. What did you think of his response?

Clearly we are entering into a fiscally conservative period. Secretary Vilsack acknowledged both the need for and the challenge of increasing funding for critically needed programs. However, he also asked us to examine the programs and identify ways to make them more efficient and effective. By achieving healthy nutrition, the opportunity to enhance educational outcomes and reduce healthcare costs is real. Through the integration across programs, he envisions opportunities to take suggestions from this meeting and others to improve efficiency and build support for needed changes. The Secretary identified the barriers – now it is up to us to collectively do what we can to move forward with a better understanding of the existing challenges and potential solutions.

There has been a lot of emphasis on schools and their role in combating childhood obesity – what are your perspectives on the importance of child care and early childhood on obesity prevention?

Clearly from the history of prevention and developmental pediatrics, we know that the earlier we start the better the outcomes. We know that giving children a healthy and stimulating environment through good nutrition and physical activity is a key indicator for developmental and educational success. By investing in early childcare, we build good health habits that avoid the risks of obesity, and help children optimize their education and lifelong potential.

Is there anything in particular about this conference that got you excited or that you think is promising?

I find it very promising that there is an increasing base of evidence that what kids eat and how physically active they are makes a difference in combating the obesity epidemic. The influence that early childcare has on the food exposure and levels of physical activity is increasingly well understood. The impact of wide ranges in sedentary time and activity levels has been documented, yet no standard exists despite massive amounts of federal funding. It is time for us to use the knowledge we have and provide guidance to both caregivers and parents to improve the health of their children and reverse the nation’s obesity epidemic.

What do you hope to come out of this? What’s the next step after everyone leaves?

I hope we see an action plan that has specific steps to be immediately implemented, as well as longer term strategies to guide policymakers and leaders.

What role is the Center playing in this discussion, or what role do you envision it will play?

The RWJF Center hopes to build off this discussion in our work to change the environments in which children live, grow, and learn every day. Only by ensuring that healthy choices are the easiest choices will we assure all children across the country—those in low income communities, communities of color, and geographically isolated communities—will have a healthy childhood and productive future.