LEADERSHIP FOR HEALTHY COMMUNITIES CONVENES FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND CHILDHOOD OBESITY MEETING OF LOCAL, STATE AND NATIONAL POLICY-MAKERS
Leadership for Healthy Communities convened its inaugural Childhood Obesity Prevention Summit: Connecting Leaders to Support Healthy Children on October 18-19, 2007 in Washington, D.C. Elected and appointed officials and other policy leaders from across the country and all levels of government met to share their approaches to preventing childhood obesity and to discuss innovative partnerships, promising practices and policy-relevant research that can support efforts to create healthier communities.
Key themes and messages that emerged from the conference include:
- The need to share promising practices and encourage peer education;
- The importance of leadership at all levels;
- Strengthening linkages between research and policy; and
- The power of collaboration and partnership.
Over 180 people participated in the summit and were treated to a host of speakers and sessions addressing the key themes. The unprecedented level of participation from policy leaders at all levels of government reflects a growing national commitment to creating healthier communities and changing the lives of generations of children. This summit brought leaders together to galvanize a movement. The hard work and determination of leaders from across the country to prevent childhood obesity is invaluable. None of us can stop this epidemic on our own, but all of us can do it – if we work together.
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PROMISING PRACTICES AND PEER EDUCATION
Roel Gonzalez, superintendent of the Rio Grande City Consolidated Independent School District in Rio Grande, Texas, enthusiastically described the changes he has spearheaded in his school district to improve the health of the children he serves. He was grateful for the opportunity to attend the summit and exchange ideas with others. Gonzalez noted that he was particularly motivated by a promise he made to the 10,000 kids in his school district to represent them at the summit. The kids were counting on him to share their stories, and they were proud that their district's accomplishments would be shared with leaders in Washington, D.C.
Gonzalez described a sample of the changes made within the Rio Grande school district, including measuring students' body mass indices, adjusting school menus and increasing opportunities for physical activity throughout the school environment. Donuts have been replaced with bagels and elementary schools now have salad bars. Students and teachers also take a 30 minute walk around the school track each day after breakfast.
The superintendent encouraged policy-makers and community stakeholders to examine other local efforts and lessons learned from the field, so that they might replicate effective interventions in their own communities. Gonzales told attendees, "There is a lot of good work going on around the country, and you need to continue. I'm here to tell you, you are doing a wonderful job. Come into the schools—keep talking to us because in Rio Grande it is making a difference. Not only are we successful in academics, but we are making a difference in nutrition and making a difference in physical activity."
U.S. Senators Tom Harkin of Iowa and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have been leaders in congressional efforts to combat the childhood obesity epidemic in America. Along with a bipartisan group of senators, Harkin and Murkowski are co-sponsors of the Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act of 2007. In their keynote speeches, both Senators Harkin and Murkowski emphasized that, when it comes to setting new policies around childhood obesity, there are opportunities for leadership at all levels – whether it involves advancing broad-scale, federal-level policy changes or undertaking changes in schools and classrooms and communities across the country.
Senator Harkin recognized the value of organic, local initiatives. He noted that states and counties have become incubators for innovations in wellness and prevention, and believes the federal government should encourage further innovation.
Additionally, Senator Murkowski spoke of how everyday leadership demands consistency. Murkowski said, "When the kids are in the schools, the messages should not be conflicting. I remember when my boys were little and they had to learn the food pyramid. They cut out all the little pieces and they'd paste them together so they knew how many fruits and how many vegetables they were supposed eat. And then, they could go down the hall in their elementary school and they could buy a soda pop. Now, that was a pretty conflicting message. Our reality is that we have to make sure our kids get not only a good message in school, but a consistent message."
Dr. Lynn Silver, a pediatrician by training, understands the important link between research and policy. She started her internship in a poor community in New York. In 1984, Dr. Silver didn't see very many overweight children, and she never saw type 2 diabetes in kids. As the assistant commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene for the Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention and Control, Dr. Silver now faces a much different reality. Today, surveillance data shows that 42 percent of children in New York City Head Start programs are overweight or obese. To improve children's health, the city is applying a comprehensive approach to address the epidemic that includes changing policies and regulations, facilitating changes to the built environment and supporting community programs like Head Start.
Dr. Silver's resounding message was that, while a silver bullet solution for childhood obesity prevention does not exist, government officials can make informed decisions and can take action with the available information. "We have some solid research. We have some positive experiences, and we have to be willing to act as people who are working in the government on the best available evidence to try and address this epidemic," said Dr. Silver.
Angela Glover Blackwell is a renowned community activist and advocate. As the founder and chief executive officer of PolicyLink, a national nonprofit research and advocacy organization, Blackwell collaborates with a broad range of partners to ensure that everyone—including those from low-income communities of color—can contribute to and benefit from economic growth and prosperity. During the summit, Blackwell discussed how policy-makers are framing health issues in a broader context and creating new networks as their understanding of health issues grows. Blackwell pointed to the city of Richmond, California, which is starting to add a health element to its general city plan. "People understand that once you embrace a problem and its complexities, then you have to move out of the silo to come up with solutions. So, it naturally leads to collaboration where you have to work in education, health care and the criminal justice system," said Blackwell.
Blackwell summed up the spirit of the Leadership for Healthy Communities Childhood Obesity Prevention summit by highlighting the vital role collaboration can play in moving the issue of childhood obesity prevention forward on the national agenda. "No matter how exciting the policy progress is in your corner of the world, we all have an obligation to be able to put our wisdom together to be able to lift it up into a national movement that says all of the children are our children, no matter where they live."
Click here to view the agenda, panelists' presentations, and photos and videos from the summit.
