The Bower Foundation Strategic Initiatives to Address Childhood Obesity

2. The Bower FoundationStrategic Initiatives to Address Childhood Obesity • Two-pronged approach: • State Infrastructure • State Policy

3. Infrastructure

4. ! You’ve got chocolate in my peanut butter!You’ve got peanut butter in my chocolate! Health Education

7. Maslow’s Hierarchy

8. Coordinated School Health Program Physical Education Health Education Family and Community Involvement Health Services Health Promotion for Staff Nutrition Services Healthy School Environment Health Education

9. It’s something about health --- RUN!

10. Trapped? Unhealthy Environment Poverty Parenting Inadequacies Lack of Parents Mental Health Problems Teenage Birthrate Uneducated Adults/Parents Peer Pressure Obesity and Diabetes Lack of Role Models Crime and Violence Malnutrition Low Self-Esteem Lack of Loving Adults State and Federal Regulations Discipline Parent Complaints Money and Resources Technology Facilities Curriculum Constant Staff Concerns Safety Concerns Testing and Accountability Supervision and Evaluation Character Education Church and State Separation

13. Nucleus for School Health in Education

14. Office of Healthy Schools

15. MDE Board Legislature MDE Sr. Mgmt. Team Superintendents – 152 Local School Boards Schools – 1,038 Students – 492,557 Teachers – 31,611; Administrators – 1,490 Other School Personnel -2,630 Parents -985,104 (est) Strategic and Systematic Approach PolicyLevel Implementation Level Grass Roots Level

16. Return on InvestmentEvery day in Mississippi, we have an opportunity to reach… • 494, 038 public school students • 152 School Districts • 618 Elementary Schools/225 Secondary Schools • Over 68,000 adults work as teachers, school building staff, or school district staff

17. Focused and Incremental Grant Making Approach

18. Build Success and Momentum Knowledge of School Health

19. Coordinated School Health • Office of Healthy Schools • Health is Academic Initiatives • Start Up Grants • Network Grant • Committed to Move • Five Star Foods • Nutrition Integrity • EPSDT School Nurses • School Nurse Data System • Administrative Claiming • Educable Child • Health is Academic Research • Vending Machine Study • CAYPOS • Water Hydration • Total: $13,115,391

20. Policy

21. Center for Mississippi Health Policy • Independent, non-profit • Translate and apply research to relevant health policy issues • Modeled after similar centers in Kansas, Ohio, Colorado, and Texas • Emphasis on the translation and application of research to relevant health policy issues

22. Example: Childhood Obesity • Policymakers demonstrated readiness • The issue had local “champions” • Other states had shown success • The issue was gaining national attention • Key questions being asked: • How is the issue affecting the state? • What are other states doing? • What can we do?

23. C4MHP’s Role • Summarize Research for Policymakers • Data on childhood obesity • Best practices • Policies and programs in other states • Legislation in other states • Public opinion survey with local perspective

24. C4MHP’s Role • Communication to Policy Makers • Issue Brief: “What Do Mississippians Think About Childhood Obesity?” • Distributed to all legislators through a “champion” in each chamber • Presentations • Legislative committees and subcommittees • State Board of Education • School superintendents

26. C4MHP’s Role • Communication to Interested Parties • Tracked legislation • Maintained updates on web site (2nd most popular topic) • Technical Assistance • Provided legislative staff with statutes and policies from other states • Responded to requests for information from legislators and state staff

27. Lessons Learned • Strategic • System Context • Align health goals with goals of educators • Start with some success or “readiness” • Support and leadership critical for success • Base payments on benchmark achievement • Overall Goal: Policy Changes

28. Why? If schools do not deal with children’s health by design, they deal with it by default. Health is Academic, 1997

29. Why Coordinated School Health? It is difficult for students to be successful in school if they are: Depressed Tired Being bullied Stressed Sick Using alcohol or other drugs Hungry Abused

30. The relationship makes sense Maslow’s Hierarchy Self-Actualization Aesthetic Needs Growth Needs Cognitive Needs Esteem Needs Deficiency Needs Barriers to Learning Belonging and Love Needs Safety Needs Biological and Physical Needs

31. Mississippi Department of Education

32. FIT HEALTHY READY TO SUCCEED

33. Being overweight is an academic issue • Overweight children have more school absences than children with a healthy weight. • Overweight children report a lower quality of life. • Weight-related teasing is a significant cause of bullying at school.

34. Being undernourished is an academic issue • Optimal nutrition is necessary for optimal cognitive functioning. • Zinc and iron (along with other nutrients) are critically important to brain function. • Sub-optimal nutrition has been shown to affect academic performance and even IQ scores.

35. Being sedentary is an academic issue • Excessive screen time undermines children's education. • Excessive screen time reduces time that children have to read, do homework, and explore the world. • Kids who watch a lot of TV miss the vocabulary they need to excel at school.

36. 2005 HEAD START FINDINGS Nearly 4 in 10 three and four year-old children in Head Start overweight or obese Nearly 1 in 2 five year-olds overweight or obese Over 20% of pre-school children are already obese Rates are similar for Kindergarten in K-12 study

37. Coordinated Approach

38. SURVIVAL: Moving from silos to circles… in our thinking, planning, funding, implementing Non-communicative Restrictive Close Minded Possessive Anti-children Traditional Positions and Authority Brainstorming Inclusive Visionary Nurturing Our Children’s Out of the Box Jobs and duty

40. “School System” • is a set of interacting or interdependent entities forming an integrated whole. • If children are not successful in school the burden is placed on other components of the system. • Shared resources throughout agencies • Only opportunity to meet State Board of Education Goals

41. “Department” • section of organization: a division of a large organization • Department of Human Services • Department of Education • Department of Agriculture • Department of Health

42. Creative Thinking • Problem • Decision I X

43. SIX

44. State Board of Education Bold Goals Reduce the drop out rate • Early intervention of Health Services • Increase student and staff attendance • Decrease disruptive behaviors • Opportunities for engagement

45. State Board of Education Bold Goals Increase NAEP Scores to National Average • Teacher Quality • Recruitment/Retention • Effective instruction • Family Involvement • Reduced Discipline Referrals • Increased Attendance- Students and Staff • Academic Achievement

46. State Board of Education Bold Goals Every child reading on grade level by the end of 3rd grade • Family/Community Involvement • Healthy School Environment • Teacher Quality • Increase Attendance • Decrease Disruptive Behaviors • Health Literacy

47. Body Mass Index East Corinth Elementary School BMI Comparison Fall ’06 – Fall ‘07 Fall 2006 Underweight Healthy At Risk Overweight Fall 2007 Underweight Healthy At Risk Overweight

48. 9/18/07 680L

49. Communities • Increase in Referrals • Decrease in Juvenile Crime Rate • Economic Development • Placement of Intern/Student Teachers • Decrease in Prison Costs • Decrease in Health Care Costs • Public Relations/Marketing

50. Student Achievement Effective Instruction Student Health