February is Filled with Opportunity to Effect Change in Child Care

February has been an exciting month for obesity prevention and health promotion in the early care and education settings! Many opportunities have allowed members of the Healthy Kids Healthy Future Steering Committee (HKHFSC) to leverage their expertise and influence the field.

1. The USDA has called upon the Institute of Medicine to undertake a study to review and provide recommendations to update the meal requirements for the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). As a means to do so, the Committee held a workshop on Tuesday February 23^rd titled: “Improving CACFP through Research, Outreach, and Education.” The goal was for experts in the field to present information to the committee on issues relevant to CACFP meal requirements.

Debbie Chang of Nemours was asked to testify to the committee, on which Geri Henchy, a member of the HKHFSC, sits. Debbie’s presentation highlighted Nemours’ successful policy and practice changes in Delaware CACFP. In addition to scaling DE CACFP meal requirements to the national level, Nemours recommends increasing opportunity for technical assistance and training for providers, further aligning USDA dietary guidelines with CACFP meal patterns in order to decrease confusion and complication in implementation of standards and ensuring that healthy meals are coupled with opportunity for physical activity and limited screen time.

Nemours’ recommendations were consistent with those of other speakers, including Lynn Ouderkerk, Assistant Director of the Child and Adult Care Food Program in the New York State Department of Health and chair of the CACFP Forum.

More information on the IOM Committee can be found HERE.

2. A second opportunity for experts in the childhood obesity field to present analysis of the childhood obesity epidemic will take place on Tuesday March 2 at the National Press Club (NPC). The March edition of Health Affairs, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is devoted to childhood obesity. Among the topics to be addressed include:

· What are current trends in childhood obesity in the U.S.?

· What is contributing to the problem?

· What solutions can be implemented to build a healthier future for America’s children?

· What roles should federal, state and local governments; schools; businesses; and families and parents play in combating childhood obesity?

Speakers include Bill Dietz of the CDC, Mary Story from RWJF and Debbie Chang of Nemours, all of whom are members of the HKHFSC. Bill, Mary and Debbie have been asked to present their respective findings to Members of Congress, congressional staff, academics, and other health care policy professionals at this event. Other keynote speakers include USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and Regina Benjamin, Surgeon General of the United States.

More information on this event can be found HERE.

3. A third piece of news that merits attention is the proposal of a Resolution by Senators Gillibrand (D-NY) and Voinovich (R-OH), designating September 2010 as National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. The passage of this resolution would highlight the importance of addressing an epidemic that is preventing healthy development in our nation’s children as well as leverage the great work that advocates and leaders in the obesity prevention and health promotion field have been accomplishing. A corresponding resolution was proposed by House Representative Marcia L. Fudge (OH-11).

A copy of the resolution can be found HERE.

Nemours Joins Forces with First Lady and Partners to Address Childhood Obesity

We are extremely excited to announce that yesterday Nemours joined First Lady Michelle Obama at the announcement of her new campaign to end childhood obesity, LetsMove!. We also wanted to share that Nemours is working with the First Lady as one of the founding members of a new foundation formed to bring together the public and private sectors, other organizations, business and thought leaders, the media, and states and local communities to make meaningful and measurable commitments to fighting childhood obesity. At the announcement, Nemours Vice President Debbie Chang had the opportunity to speak with Secretaries Sebelius and Vilsack, as well as the Surgeon General, about child care settings and the need to focus obesity prevention in this area.

The Let’s Move Campaign shares many goals articulated at the Healthy Kids, Healthy Future conference and is focused on offering parents the tools and information they need; getting healthier food into our nation’s schools; ensuring that all our families have access to healthy, affordable food in their communities; and increasing opportunities for kids to be physically active, both in and out of school.

This initiative has three parts:

1. National Plan of Action: Yesterday, the President issued a Presidential Memorandum establishing the first ever White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity.  You’ll be pleased to see that this interagency Task Force includes the Secretaries of Health, Education and Agriculture, among others.  Like the Healthy Kids, Healthy Future Conference and Steering Committee, this Task Force is charged with collaborating across silos to meet the challenge of childhood obesity.  The Task Force will report to the President within 90 days a national plan of action to meet the national goal of eliminating childhood obesity in a generation.

2. New Foundation: To serve as a partner to the First Lady’s Office and Task Force, a new foundation, founded by The California Endowment, Kaiser Permanente, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Nemours, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Alliance for a Healthier Generation, will serve as a nonpartisan convener across the private, non-profit and public sectors to accelerate existing efforts addressing childhood obesity and to facilitate commitments towards the First Lady’s national goals.

3. Administration Actions and Private Sector Commitments: At yesterday’s launch, the First Lady announced new Administration policies and benchmarks, and voluntary private sector commitments, including many of the recommendations we heard from you at the Healthy Kids, Healthy Future Conference.

As champions for obesity prevention in early care and education, we know you share our excitement that the First Lady has taken on childhood obesity as her signature issue.  The innovative work you have done in communities, states and nationally will be a key resource that Nemours can bring to this initiative.   We are committed to our shared goal of preventing obesity in children ages birth to five, and we pledge to offer this perspective as a founding member of the Partnership for a Healthier America.

More information about the Let’s Move campaign and the Partnership for a Healthier America:

Article in USA Today: Michelle Obama aims to end childhood obesity in generation

Press Release: New Foundation Will Bring Americans Together to Target Childhood Obesity

Let’s Move

Partnership for A Healthier America

White House Memorandum

Child Care 101: Overview and Everday Practice

The second Healthy Kids, Healthy Future Steering Committee meeting, entitled “Child Care 101: Overview and Everyday Practice,” was held on February 1. The discussion provided perspectives on the realities and current state of child care across the country.

Presenters offered an overview on a number of topics including:

• The layers of federal, state, legislative, and regulatory authority within the child care settings;
• The current state of public and private funding and potential opportunities given the released 2011 Federal Budget; and
• Perspectives from the inside of child care centers and family child care homes.

Helen Blank, Director of Leadership and Public Policy at the National Women’s Law Center, informed the group of the mixed Federal and State responsibilities for funding child care centers, the role that the Child and Adult Care Food Program(CACFP) plays in supporting the dietary needs of children in these centers, as well as the extent to which current resources are not sufficient in supporting the children who attend and staff who work at these centers.

Bob Siegal, National Director of Easter Seals Children’s Services, offered a view from inside child care centers. He explained two issues that significantly impact quality of care, whether it be family based or community based: 1) child care centers are currently overcrowded, understaffed and under-resourced and 2) providers’ income remains poor leading to frequent turnover.

Denise Dowell, Director of Early Learning and Care Programs, Civil Service Employees Association, AFSCME, presented information on the specific challenges for those who run family based child care homes. She expressed that one of the major obstacles is providing quality care for a group of children that often vary in age. A second unique challenge is the added difficulties of managing the administrative aspects of the business, including record keeping, buying/preparing foods, and providing referrals for families, while developing a child care program that supports healthy development.

The opportunity for questions and answers from the steering committee revealed a wide spread interest in the training and technical assistance available for these providers. The experts explained that training is not required in many states and that the resource and referral agencies, which are funded by the Child Development Block Grant program, struggle to provide support to many child care centers and family based care due to location and limited funding.

This meeting allowed for a better understanding of the family and community based child care perspective. With this information, steering committee members will be able to more strategically move forward with the development of agendas and work plans to address the childhood obesity in the 0-5 age range.

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.