CDC targets childhood obesity

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has launched a new effort to address childhood obesity.Funding made available through the Affordable Care Act will support a four year Childhood Obesity Demonstration Project. Supported by $25 million in funding awards, the project will build on existing community efforts and will work to identify effective health care and community strategies to support children's healthy eating and active living and help combat childhood obesity. The project will target children ages 2-12 years covered by the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which provides low cost health insurance to over 7 million children from working families. Rates of childhood obesity are high overall, but for minority and low-income communities in particular, they are even higher. These innovative approaches include combining changes in preventive care at doctor visits with supportive changes in schools, child care centers, and community venues such as retail food stores and parks. Community health workers will provide a bridge between families and resources in their communities in order to inform and educate hard-to-reach, limited English proficiency, and minority communities about disease prevention (including obesity), health insurance enrollment opportunities, and disease management. Overall, the grantees' work will focus on strategies that improve children's health behaviors by involving the children themselves, their parents and other family members and the communities in which they live. - Centers for Disease Control

********** Published: October 13, 2011 - Volume 10 - Issue 26