From The Orlando Sentinel?..
It just may take a village to combat childhood obesity.
That?s why institutions as diverse as Nemours Children?s Hospital, Rollins College, Winter Park Health Foundation, ?Sesame Street? and nearly two dozen local child-care centers have joined to tackle the problem in Central Florida.
They believe the best way to address the obesity epidemic is to nip the problem early. So, they start in preschool.
The effort began in 2009 when Nemours, through its Childcare Obesity Prevention Initiative, teamed with ?Sesame Street? to develop a program for child-care centers. The goal was to get tots and teachers thinking about eating more fresh foods (and less food from boxes), drinking water instead of juice and sugar-sweetened beverages and moving a lot more.
The program used wellness guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Institute of Medicine, said Jessica Mills, program and policy analyst for Nemours? Florida prevention initiative.
?By the time American kids reach age 5, 20 percent of them are overweight or obese,? said Mills, explaining her reasons for targeting kids early. ?We?re hoping to change those statistics.?
Last year the program got a boost from the Winter Park Health Foundation, which gave it a $50,000 grant. The foundation topped that this year with a $90,000 grant.
The funds help get teaching tools into preschools in Winter Park, Eatonville, and Maitland ? all of which feed into elementary schools that have a similar, coordinated health and wellness program, said Lynn Carolan, spokeswoman for the health foundation.
To read the full story?..Click here
Source: http://www.lensaunders.com/wp/?p=7399
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