Programs Fight Obesity

Lehigh Valley, PA — Community Services for Children was recently chosen by the US Office of Head Start to be one of 24 agencies nationwide to implement their new initiative to prevent childhood obesity. Called “Little Voices for Healthy Choices,” the innovative program involves infants and toddlers along with their parents and teachers.

Particularly unique to the program is the involvement of a parent in the initial training team who will bring to CSC’s Early Head Start program training tools to improve nutrition and exercise levels, contributing to the overall healthy development of infants and toddlers. Among other changes to CSC’s Early Head Start program will be an emphasis to help parents ensure their young children have at least 30 minutes of structured (such as planned dancing to music) and 30 minutes of unstructured activity (including child-chosen play) per day.

“This program will get all of us moving – parents alike,” says Heather Held, the CSC Head Start parent chosen to participate in the initial training. “I especially appreciate that Head Start wants parents involved right from the beginning. That is, after all, the true Head Start difference from other early childhood programs,” she adds.

CSC is also implementing “I am Moving, I am Learning,” obesity-fighting program for its preschool children enrolled in Head Start. This project provides strategies and resources for infusing quality physical movement and healthy nutrition choices within the current curriculum and daily classroom routines.

“By helping children, families and staff make healthy food choices and by implementing physical activity throughout the day, children and families will be developing healthy habits that will last a lifetime and reduce the incidence of obesity. Children enrolled in our Head Start classrooms will have at least 60 minutes of both planned and unstructured activity every day. And, what’s really going to be fun, this philosophy will filter into all our meetings, too. In time, we’ll have staff participate in moving to music for a few minutes before every meeting,” says Lora Lesak, Director of Health & Nutrition at CSC.

“Everyone should move around every hour or so. We all need an hour of activity a day – it doesn’t need to be all at once,” continues Mrs. Lesak, a certified nurse practitioner. “The research is very clear – we learn better and are more productive when we move around every hour or so.”