Changing the Landscape to Prevent Childhood Obesity

Kansas City’s Childhood Obesity Collaborative-Weighing In

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We Heard from You!

Issues and Challenges Identified:

Focus on schools– Assure healthy food and beverage

options,

– Increase physical activity levels of students

– Provide training to school staffs

Issues and Challenges, cont.Share Information

– Members– Policy makers and – General public

Continue collaboration– Continue networking opportunities– Set clear goals and objectives to facilitate

collaboration and avoid duplication of effort

Valued WI Functions

Provide training & technical assistance

– Provide resources to support actions, including recommendations on best materials

– Identify strategies to overcome obstacles

– Provide information on best practices, local efforts and lessons learned

Valued Functions

Communicate – Establish consistent messages and talking

points on childhood obesity– Publish periodic childhood obesity status reports– Coordinate media or social marketing

campaigns– Conduct regular meetings to support networking– Compile positions papers on WI priorities

Valued Functions

Market – Coordinate marketing of collective efforts to

address childhood obesity in KC– Provide opportunities for member

organizations to market their programs and services

Valued Functions

Assess and Plan

– Track and monitor key measures and indicators of childhood obesity for the Greater Kansas City Area

– Facilitate planning sessions

Valued Functions

Implement and Evaluate

– Host interactive forums with policy makers on priority issues

– Track actions and provide status updates

Collaboration Valued

 98% of responders agree or strongly agree that

participation in WI collaboration is useful

97% stated it was essential to address childhood obesity

95% would like to collaborate more on common initiatives

Desired Collaboration Characteristics

97% want to evaluate the collaboration results

97% want to track and share collaboration results

95% want training for leads and active participants

93% want resources to support efforts

93% want clearly written objectives, plan and timeline

90% want formal arrangements between key organizations and individuals implementing the plan

Current Actions• Assessing KC’s collective childhood obesity

prevention capacity• Established website• Updating Strategic Plan• Will provide leadership trainingSupported by Health Care Foundation – GKC funding

• Establishing Childhood Obesity Metrics• Will convene systems mapping process• Will provide targeted training

Early Childhood Working Group Mission

Provides a community forum to focus on children, ages 0-5 years, and implement viable approaches in a deliberate, thoughtful manner

to address childhood obesity

Primary Audience for current priorityChild care providers, key decision makers for early childhood policies, programs/services and food and fitness environments and other agencies that support child care settings

Secondary Audience

Children up to five years of age and their parents/caregivers, women, preconception through pregnancy

under five

Guiding principles for selecting strategies

Addresses the problemEvidence-backedMeasurableViable for Kansas CityCollaboration improves impact and effectiveness

Strategy Review

Broad Initial Review

• Focused on all early childhood issues

• Have not researched all available resources, programs and approaches for all strategies– next step for the top priorities.

Top Ten Targets for EC1. Improve support for breastfeeding

2. Improve healthy meals in child care

3. Decrease sugar-sweetened beverages

4. Increase physical activity in child care

5. Improve access to recreation & play

6. Increase number of child care facilities with wellness policies

7. Increase proportion of women with appropriate weight gain during pregnancy

8. Increase participation in nutrition assistance programs

9. Reduce screen time

10. Increase ‘smart meals’ in restaurants

Child Care Setting priorities

Top Child Care Issues

Child care emerged as key setting to focus efforts and following priorities identified:

I.Survey Child Care Providers

II.Implement steps to enhance policy, environments and practices for healthy eating and active living

III.Provide training

IV.Provide breastfeeding friendly environment

Examined Priorities in Detail to Inform Our Next Steps

• Who or which agencies already support this strategy?• Who else needs to buy-in?• Benefits of this strategy?• Current opportunities available that support this

strategy?• Are there barriers to implementing?• How could barriers be minimized?• How feasible is this for the Kansas City Area on a scale

of 1 to 10?• Do you recommend that we pursue this for Kansas City?

Current Priority—Child Care Providers Survey

What do we want to know?

• Nutrition and physical activity practices, policies and environments;

• Obstacles and barriers to healthy food and fitness environments and practices;

• Priorities for viable actions among child care providers in the KC community; and

• Resource and training needs

Next Meeting-May 24, 2011Early Childhood Working Group

KC Childhood Obesity Collaborative-Weighing In Child Care Survey, April 25, 2011

Survey Purpose To determine nutrition and physical activity practices in child care settings. To determine biggest obstacles and barriers to enhance food and fitness environments within child care settings. To identify priorities for action that are viable among child care providers To determine resource and training needs to advance strategies to prevent childhood obesity in child care settings.

Methods: Family and Group Child Care Homes Child Care Center

Who will complete survey Family child care home or group home provider Directors or Site Managers at child care centers

Method to collect Hard copy distributed and collected at trainings E-mail child care providers through existing groups with

link to survey on-line o Family Conservancy o Family Day Care Home Associations

Distributed by CACFP Home Sponsoring Organizations

E-mail request through existing networks:

o Head Start o YMCA o Family Conservancy o CACFP list serves

Demographics wanted Zip Code of facility

Type of facility Number of children in care Age range of children (or do they care for

infants/preschool/school-age Length of time in child care field Participate in CACFP—yes or no Licensed—yes or no

All of items for Homes Number of staff at facility

Target Audience: Representative sample of licensed child care facilities in the Greater Kansas City Area

Licensed Homes, Group Homes and Child Care Centers in the Greater Kansas City Area (April 2011) Licensed

Homes Total

Capacity Licensed

Group Homes

Total Capacity

Licensed Child Care Centers

Total Capacity

Total Capacity At All Facilities

Cass County, MO

31

310

1

20 22

1,854

Clay County, MO

44

430 -

- 42

4,270

Jackson County, MO

181

1,800

7

126 173

14,569

Platte County, MO

13

128 -

- 15

1,443

Wyandotte County, KS

114

1,034

75

889 53

3,202

Johnson County, KS

704

6,629

154

1,844 188

17,144

TOTAL

1,087

10,331

237

2,879 493

42,482

55,692

Obesity Prevention Schools Committee

Primary AudiencesK-12 school staff-administrators, teachers, school food and nutrition services personnel

Community agencies supporting schools

Secondary AudiencesSchool-age children and their families

Vision

School-age children enjoy optimal growth and development in the Greater Kansas City Area

where active living and healthy eating is supported for all.

Mission

Schools and community agencies collaborate to shift the social norm and enhance school policies, environments

and practices so students in the Greater Kansas City Areaincrease physical activity and

improve healthy eating to prevent and address childhood

obesity.

Desired Outcomes for the Schools Committee

• Network map of resources• Baseline assessment• Plan for action• Means to track progress• Benefits document• Consistent messages• Increased number of schools

meeting Healthier US School Standards

• Strengthened partnerships

Guiding Principles

• Evidence based or promising practice• Focus on use and redirection of existing

resources in view of economic conditions• Systems approach• Sensitive to multiple demands in school setting• Empower and equip the adults in the child’s life• Provide options that can be tailored to schools

unique needs.

Sample messages

• Healthy eating and physical activity are among the most effective interventions for the prevention and treatment of obesity and other chronic diseases.

• Academic success is better in healthy and physically active students.

• Schools are a mirror of the community—can’t modify actions in schools in isolation of community-wide norms

School Committee Meeting June 7, 2011

Obesity Prevention School Committee Charter

Vision:

School-age children enjoy optimal growth and development in the Kansas City area where active living and healthy eating is supported for all.

Mission:

Schools and community agencies collaborate to shift the social norm and enhance school policies, environments and practices so students in the Greater Kansas City Area increase physical activity and improve healthy eating to prevent and address childhood obesity.

Long Term Goals:

Decrease rates of childhood obesity in children. Increase physical activity levels and enhance healthy

eating among school-age children. Influence life-long health habits by assuring:

o Core nutrition, physical and health education; and o Supportive food and fitness policies and

environments in the school setting. Enhance overall academic achievement.

Desired Short-Term Outcomes:

Network map of resources available to support schools. Kansas City plan to enhance school policies,

environments and practices. Mechanism to track progress and determine what is

working. ‘What’s In It for Me’ document that outlines rationale for

involvement of collaboration partners Consistent message document for use by schools and

community partners on food and fitness issues impacting students and actions being taken.

Increased number of schools that meet the Healthier US School standards—at any level.

Strengthened school and community partnerships to provide and maximize use of resources to achieve goals.

Undesired Outcomes:

Another layer of activities that don’t produce results Fragmentation Competition among partners Unrealistic promises Schools not engaged

Primary Audience

K-12 school staff-administrators, teachers, school food and nutrition services personnel

Community agencies supporting schools

Secondary Audience:

School-age children and their families

Guiding Principles

Focus on viable evidence based strategies. Innovate and embrace promising practices where

evidence is lacking to address prominent problems. Focus on use and redirection of existing resources in view

of the current economic conditions. Create transparent processes and host thoughtful,

engaging and deliberate discussions to create and implement the plan.

Build systems approach that considers the needs and perspectives of entities that comprise the school system (e.g., students, families, school staff, school administration, community agencies serving and advocating for schools; oversight institutions)

Design strategies and interventions that appropriately address the social, emotional and mental health issues.

Strive for synergy, collaboration and alignment of resources to support priority strategies.

Feed demand that adds value and starve ideas/activities that don’t have genuine value.

Be sensitive to the multiple demands in a school setting. Work to empower and equip the adults in the child’s life. Make provisions so schools can tailor approaches to

meet their unique and differing needs.

Current Situation:

The childhood obesity epidemic threatens our children’s future health and success. While current efforts have not yet reached the needed levels to impact the upward trend line of obesity rates in the Greater Kansas City Area, collaboratives are strategizing on how to improve their collective efforts. Schools are a clear focus for obesity prevention efforts given: 1) the access to children for significant amounts of time in their daily lives, 2) the mechanisms for education and reinforcement of healthy behaviors, 3) the mounting evidence on actions to take in the school settings to improve the food and fitness environment; and 4) the enhanced academic success experienced by physically active and well-nourished children. The Obesity Prevention Schools Committee formed by forging the schools committees of Building a Healthier Heartland, the Food Policy Coalition and Kansas City’s Childhood Obesity Prevention Collaborative-Weighing In. The respective chairpersons of these formerly separate committees recognized the value of unifying efforts to support viable and effective strategies in the Greater Kansas City Area schools.

LETS CHAT

QuestionsQuestions from the Audience?

If time allows:• What are priority issues from a Federal perspective for

nutrition education that are important for Kansas City to address in both child care and school settings?

• From your experience, what factors contribute to a school’s success in the nutrition education arena?

• What USDA supports are available to help overcome barriers being faced in school settings in relation to improving physical activity and healthy eating?

• What actions is your office taking in the “advocacy” area?

Next Weighing In Dates

May 24, 2011, 3:30-5:00 p.m.Early Childhood Working Group Meeting, Don Chisholm Center

June 7, 2011, 10:00 a.m.-NoonSchools Committee Meeting, Diastole Scholars Center, 2501 Holmes, Kansas City, MO

Next Quarterly Meetings: September 26th, 2011, 8:30 a.m.December 12, 2011, 8:30 a.m.Don Chisholm Center

Need more information?

Contact Deborah Markenson

dmarkenson@cmh.edu, 816-234-9223

weighingin@cmh.edu