CHILDHOOD OBESITY "INVESTING IN CHILDREN'S HEALTH"

Childhood obesity is a serious medical condition that affects children and adolescents. It occurs when a child is well above the normal weight for his or her age and height. Childhood obesity is particularly troubling because the extra pounds often start children on the path to health problems that were once confined to adults, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Childhood obesity can also lead to poor self-esteem and depression.

One of the best strategies to reduce childhood obesity is to improve the diet and exercise habits of your entire family. Treating and preventing childhood obesity helps protect the health of your child now and in the future.

Kids do better in school when they're well nourished. Their brains function better when they're physically active. So why don't all schools and childcare programs use these facts to their advantage? These two factors have a major impact on not only school performance but also on dollars saved — immediately in the school budget and long term in the cost of health care.

Kids who are well nourished, active and healthy are more likely to be in school and participating, which reduces the need to spend time helping kids catch up after sick days or addressing poor performance. Thus, teachers can make better use of the available time and resources.

Fewer sick days and better health also equate to savings in health care now and in the future. Consider, for example, that reducing childhood obesity now means fewer obesity-related chronic health problems in the future.

Kids need good role models, access to healthy foods and safe places to play. And many schools are rising to the challenge. The Healthier U.S. School Challenge is an initiative that recognizes schools that have created healthier environments through promotion of nutrition and physical activity. Another initiative, Action for Healthier Kids, targets schools with limited resources to help them provide students with opportunities to eat right and be active at school so they're ready to learn.

Childhood Poverty In China

Poverty has many causes, some of them very basic. Some experts suggest, for instance, that the world has too many people, too few jobs, and not enough food. But such basic causes are quite intractable and not easily eradicated. In most cases, the causes and effects of poverty interact, so that what makes people poor also creates conditions that keep them poor.  Poverty has many causes, some of them very basic. Some experts suggest, for instance, that the world has too many people, too few jobs, and not enough food. But such basic causes are quite intractable and not easily eradicated. In most cases, the causes and effects of poverty interact, so that what makes people poor also creates conditions that keep them poor. 

China's vastness and diversity encompass a broad range of the problems and challenges facing small farmers and pastoralists throughout the developing world. Population pressure strains the productive capacity of the 10 per cent of the land area that is suitable for sustained cultivation. An increasing number of livestock compete for fodder on fragile rangelands.

The efforts of China's government to stimulate economic growth have focused largely on boosting the productivity of the country’s enormous rural population by adopting a series of economic reforms that have guided China’s transition from a planned to a market-oriented economy.  Despite China's strong and sustained economic growth, poverty is still persistent, especially in remote rural areas. Income inequalities between eastern and western China have broadened, and the income gap between rural and urban residents has widened considerably since the late 1970s. Urban incomes are now more than three times higher than rural incomes. China’s government is taking strong measures to correct this trend by increasing investment in rural areas, especially in infrastructure, irrigation, education and health.

References:

http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/index.php?action=countryo
http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/web/guest/country/home/tags/china

Sharing Web Resources

Georgia Head Start Association

Georgia Head Start and Early Head Start programs provide comprehensive early childhood and family development services to children from birth to five-years-old, pregnant women and families. Our programs have a long tradition of delivering comprehensive and high quality services designed to foster healthy development in low-income children and their families. Head Start agencies provide a range of individualized services in the areas of education and early childhood development; medical, dental, and mental health; nutrition; parent involvement and family support. In addition, the entire range of Head Start services is responsive and appropriate to each child's and family's developmental, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic heritage and experience.
All Head Start and Early Head Start programs must adhere to federal Program Performance Standards. These standards, which are the most rigorous and comprehensive early childhood program standards in the country, define the services that programs are to provide to the children and families they serve and are designed to ensure that the Head Start goals and objectives are implemented successfully and that all agencies maintain the highest possible quality in the provision of Head Start services

Link to website:  http://www.georgiaheadstart.org/

Current Event that caught my attention on the website…..

On Target for Reading

"On Target for Reading" is a read aloud program that encourages everyone to read aloud to children. The goal is to promote reading to Georgia preschool children. Our target is to read 500,000 books during the eight month program from September 1, 2010 through April 30, 2011.
Everyone from Head Start, Child Care Centers, Family Child Care Programs, Pre-K Centers, parents, staff, grandparents, community volunteers and older children are invited to read aloud books to children then log the information into the GHSA web site at http://georgiaheadstart.org/survey/.

Help Georgia preschool children get "On Target for Reading" by reading aloud to our children! This program is sponsored by the Georgia Head Start Association with funding provided by Target Company Childhood Reading Grant.

Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

I have not been able to make contact with any Early Childhood Professional outside the United States.  My goal was to contact a professional from Africa.  I really thought this would be an easy assignment, however it is very challenging.  I am going to make a visit to Fort Valley State University and speak with the International Student department to see if I can get some assistance.