Contra Costa County To Launch Pilot Program To Promote Exercise, Nutrition Among Children
The Contra Costa County Health Services Department, the Los Medanos Community Health Care District and the Mt. Diablo Region YMCA plan to launch a pilot program next year to promote exercise and nutrition to East Contra Costa County children and their families, the Contra Costa Times reports. The Nutrition, Exercise and Wellness Kids Program will begin later this academic year or next fall at Heights and Stoneman middle schools in Pittsburg; coordinators later hope to expand the program countywide. "We realize this is a monumental task. The problem of obesity has many facets, including school nutrition policies, parental behavior and other environmental elements," program coordinator Luz Gomez-Pardini said. Under the program, the YMCA will provide specialists to encourage overweight children to exercise and teach them about nutrition. The YMCA will charge families a fee to participate based on their incomes. The program also will include a series of 12-week workshops for families at the Pittsburg Health Clinic. In the workshops, a multidisciplinary team that includes a physician, a child development specialist, an exercise psychiatrist and a nutritionist will help families develop new behaviors. The clinic will provide translators for participants who speak Spanish (Felsenfield, Contra Costa Times, 12/18).
This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.