Medicare Agent News: Help Children Maintain Healthy Weight

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August 2021

Greetings,

With September being National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, this is an opportune time to recall three facts:

More than 14 million US children and adolescents—almost 1 in 5—live with obesity.

Obesity harms a child’s physical and psychological health in many ways.

Childhood obesity is more common in households with lower incomes and among Hispanic and Black children than other groups.

These facts are a call to action. Keep reading to learn about our critical work to make healthy eating and active living easier for children. Also consider what more can be done to help children maintain a healthy weight.

Ruth Petersen

Breastfeeding reduces the child's risk for obesity. See recently updated national and state breastfeeding rates and statistics. Consider using The CDC Guide to Strategies to Support Breastfeeding Mothers and Babies to choose an appropriate intervention strategy.

Infant and toddler nutrition can lay the foundation for healthy eating as children age. If you lead programs for young children, refer to the infant and toddler nutrition website for practical strategies to improve nutrition. This information is also helpful for parents and caregivers.

Early care and education (ECE) settings are among the best places to reach young children with obesity prevention efforts. See your state scorecard for ways to embed high-impact obesity prevention standards in ECE licensing. Each scorecard shows areas for improvement.

Physical activity is important throughout the day for children aged 3 through 5 years. Children and adolescents aged 6 through 17 years need 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity each day. Plus, this age group needs vigorous intensity, bone-strengthening and muscle-building activities 3 days a week. See and share these Tips to Help Children Maintain a Healthy Weight.

Accessible healthy food helps parents and caregivers provide healthier foods for children. An estimated 13 million children—1 in 6—may experience food insecurity in 2021. Learn what you can do to improve your community’s food environment.

We support three pediatric weight management projects:

Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration (CORD)
Childhood Obesity Management with MEND Implementation Teams (COMMIT)
Clinical and Community Data Initiative (CODI)

Although there is no simple solution to childhood obesity, communities can support children’s good health in many ways. We thank you for your continued support in this important work.

Ruth Petersen, Director, DNPAO

Feature Of The Month

What Are We Doing About Health Equity?

As noted above, childhood obesity is more common among some groups than others. Health disparity occurs for several other chronic diseases in the United States, including heart disease and diabetes. Good nutrition, regular physical activity, and a healthy weight help prevent, delay, and manage many chronic diseases.

Healthy routines, however, require access to affordable, nutritious food and safe places to be physically active. CDC works with state, tribal, local, and territorial health agencies, and other partners to remove environmental and systemic barriers to health. Four new website pages explain how our work addresses health equity:

What we are doing and how it aligns with partners.

Domestic and international initiative, programs and priorities.

Monitoring and research.

Health equity resources and data.

Look for this icon in future newsletters to highlight work toward health equity.

News You Can Use

Wins From the Field: Ideas From CDC-Funded Grantees

REACH Partner Ensures Breast Pump Distribution

Woman pumping breast milk while at working

With a new clinic process, the number of breast pumps California’s San Ysidro Health Center provides increased from 7 per month in April 2020 to a current average of 30 per month. The service is part of San Diego County’s Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) program.

Health insurance plans must cover the cost of a breast pump, yet expecting mothers may not be aware of this benefit. They need to file a claim in the third trimester to get insurance to cover the benefit.

Photo available from the State and Community Health Media Center.

Dr. Shaila Serpas, a physician at San Ysidro Health Center, led the clinic staff to partner with Hygeia Health, a breast pump vendor, to ensure prenatal patients are aware of this benefit.

Clinic staff order the breast pumps through an online system and provide patient education and support for using the breast pump. Family Health Centers of San Diego and La Maestra Community Health Centers have adapted this approach. Along with San Ysidro Health Center, the three federally qualified health centers serve some of the most culturally diverse and under-resourced communities in south and central San Diego County.

Breastfeeding is one of the most important sources of nutrition for infants and can also reduce the risk for certain health conditions for both infants and mothers. Breastfeeding rates vary by geographic location, socioeconomic status, and race/ethnicity. Infants who are Black consistently have lower breastfeeding rates than the national average.

See What Others Are Doing

What's New

Healthy eating strengthens bones, boosts immunity, and promotes a healthy digestive system. See more benefits of healthy eating for adults and children in new infographics.

Land use planners, architects, urban designers, and real estate developers can help design communities where people can safely and easily walk, bike, wheelchair roll, and use public transit to get to everyday destinations. Learn more.

Save the Date

20 Years of Progress: What We Know About Physical Activity and What You Can Do is the topic of the next CDC DNPAO Seminar Series. Set a calendar reminder for 2 p.m. ET on Thursday, September 30, and watch your email for a registration link.

The Seminar Series showcases the science and practice of our work, including the latest research, guidelines, and successes. The Seminar Series is for partners, public health practitioners, and other professionals interested in nutrition, physical activity, and obesity.

Upcoming Health Observances

September

National Cholesterol Education Month
National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month*
Fruit and Veggies—More Matters Month
Whole Grains Month
Healthy Aging Month*
National Wilderness Month
September 15–October 15—National Hispanic/Latino Heritage Month
September 18—National Dance Day
September 29—World Heart Day*
September 29—National Women’s Health and Fitness Day

October

Disability Employment Awareness Month
Health Literacy Month
International Walk to School Month
October 4–8 — Malnutrition Awareness Week
October 6 — Walk to School Day
October 10 — Walk to a Park Day
October 16 — World Food Day
October 18–22 — National Health Education Week

* See suggested social media posts for these observances below.

Suggested Social Media Posts

September is National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. Encourage drinking water and reducing portion sizes to help children maintain a healthy weight. Check out more tips. https://bit.ly/2cCYCk0

Healthy foods and drinks are important for healthy aging. During Healthy Aging Month, see other tips to help you remain active and independent longer. https://bit.ly/3bL6ege

A heart-healthy lifestyle includes being physically active and healthy eating. On World Heart Day, check out these seven strategies to help you keep your heart healthy. https://bit.ly/2ETm7SV

Behind The Scenes

John D. Omura, Medical Officer

I’m part of the epidemiology and surveillance team for the Physical Activity and Health Branch. To support public health action, we conduct research on physical activity equity, behavior, promotion, and health outcomes. We also support key initiatives such as Active People, Healthy Nation^SM and the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd Edition. In addition, we provide guidance to partners on how to track physical activity.

One area of exciting new work is exploring methods via GPS-enabled devices to measure walking and walkability in communities. This work supports broader CDC goals to modernize its systems to enable quicker and more nimble access to data.

What is your greatest professional satisfaction?

As a former health clinic administrator, I hung up my stethoscope to pursue a career in helping to improve health across the nation. I am always thrilled whenever our research supports public health action. Seeing our work being used to guide initiatives and knowing it is helpful to partners gives me immense professional satisfaction. On a personal level, I feel incredibly fortunate to work with such a passionate and dedicated group of public health professionals. They make coming to work every day a joy!

How do partners help you do your work?

Our partners are critical in helping us achieve our goal of producing research that can support public health action. For example, we look to partners to help us keep a pulse on the challenges they are experiencing and opportunities they see regarding physical activity promotion. Their insights guide the research questions we seek to address.

What would you like partners to know?

To be effective, we must learn from the experience and insight gained from the work our partners do on the ground every day. This is where the rubber meets the road. We’d also invite you to join Active People, Healthy Nation if you haven’t already joined.

Favorite quote:

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”—Mahatma Gandhi