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Nemours Health and Prevention Services announced its 2008-10 advocacy agenda for regulatory and legislative changes that will encourage healthy behaviors in the places where children live, work and play.
The changes align with Nemours’ health promotion and disease-prevention activities and the Campaign to Make Delaware’s Kids the Healthiest in the Nation, the goal of which is to reverse the state’s trend of childhood obesity.
“There is no single cause of childhood obesity and no single cure,” said Debbie Chang, Nemours senior vice president and executive director of Health and Prevention Services.
“What we are trying to create, with the help of dozens of partners, is a cultural shift in Delaware that places the health of children at the top of the agenda.” Chang cited schools, child-care facilities and primary-care offices as important settings for child health promotion and obesity prevention.
At the base of the advocacy agenda is Nemours 5-2-1 Almost None healthy lifestyle, which promotes eating five or more servings of fruits and vegetables daily, spending no more than two hours daily in front of a screen, getting at least one hour of physical activity and drinking almost no sugary beverages such as sodas and sports/energy drinks.
Nemours’ policy priorities advocate for the following:
• Delaware Legislature to increase the governor’s fiscal year 2009 funding for the Delaware Physical Education/Activity Program by $100,000, bringing the 2009 total to $300,000 and allowing an additional 22 to 25 schools to join the 41 existing schools in the program. Increasing the number of participating schools will also contribute toward meeting the standard of at least 150 minutes per week of physical activity per week for all school-age children.
• Delaware school districts to review, revise and implement robust local wellness policies, including a statewide process that requires school districts to report annually on their success to their school boards and to the Delaware Department of Education.
• Legislation authorizing the inclusion of child health promotion as a component of Delaware Stars for Early Success, a quality rating and improvement system for child-care providers.
• Key policy groups in the Delaware healthcare community to endorse the expert committee recommendations on assessment, prevention and treatment of child and adolescent overweight.
“What schools, child-care and healthcare providers, and others are doing to change their environments are important steps to creating a healthier state,” said Chang. “The momentum is building as people and communities begin to mobilize; these changes represent real progress in our quest to make Delaware’s kids the healthiest in the nation.”
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