Fighting childhood obesity |
| September 12, 2012 |
|
Panhandle Health District (PHD) will launch an
ambitious program designed to reduce childhood
obesity in the five northern counties in
Shoshone County this week. The Idaho Community Foundation granted PHD up to $50,000 a year for three years to teach child care providers how to use the Color Me Healthy program with preschoolers. Color Me Healthy uses color, music and exploration of the five senses to teach young children that healthy foods and physical activity are fun. Eleven Shoshone County child care providers will be the first of up to 155 providers throughout the five northern counties to train over the next three years in the evidence-based program used in more than 50,000 child care sites nationwide. The first free training is scheduled for Wednesday, September 12, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Shoshone Medical Center Health and Education Building in Smelterville. Participants will receive a Color Me Healthy kit complete with instructional materials, colorful posters, activity ideas, recipes and parent newsletters filled with ideas for nutritious snacks and fun activities. Child care providers in Idaho are required to have at least four hours of continuing education each year to maintain licensure. Providers who participate in the free Color Me Healthy training will earn two credits from the IdahoSTARS Professional Development System toward that requirement. “Providers can put Color Me Healthy into practice with their preschoolers right after the training,” said Lisa Gardom, PHD’s Color Me Healthy program coordinator. To expand the effort to reduce childhood obesity into a community project, some Shoshone County grocers have agreed to highlight fruits and vegetables that correspond to the Color Me Healthy color of the week. PHD is working with supermarkets, hospitals, pediatricians’ offices, the media and more to spread the word about the value of nutritious food and physical activity. A recent Idaho Department of Health and Welfare study found 29 percent of Idaho’s children are overweight or obese, based on a comparison of BMIs (body mass index) on a sex- and age-specific growth chart. Idaho’s adult obesity rate is 27 percent. In 1995, Idaho’s adult obesity rate was 14.2 percent. Obese people are more likely to suffer from a variety of chronic ailments including eight types of cancer. Healthcare related to obesity costs Idaho about $324 million each year. PHD’s plan to reduce childhood obesity focuses on children during their preschool years when they’re first learning that the right foods work with physical activity to help keep them healthy. Idaho received a failing grade in a recent assessment of state regulations related to obesity prevention in child care settings. Color Me Healthy is an evidence-based program created through a partnership between the North Carolina Cooperative Extension and the North Carolina Division of Public Health-Physical Activity and Nutrition branch. The Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation for Health is donating the Color Me Healthy kits for the project. Child care sites that participate will post a window cling bearing the Color Me Healthy logo. The Idaho Community Foundation is a statewide public nonprofit organization. In 2011, ICF provided nearly $560,000 to the northern Idaho region through grants, scholarships and other distributions. Kootenai County child care providers will receive the second Color Me Healthy training this coming winter. |