$3 Million Initiative to Tackle State’s Childhood Obesity Epidemic

On October 26th at Dilworth Child Development Center, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC) Foundation announced a three-year, $3 million partnership with The North Carolina Partnership for Children (NCPC) the organization that oversees Smart Start. Through the partnership, the BCBSNC Foundation and NCPC will launch Shape NC: Healthy Starts for Young Children, a groundbreaking initiative that will tackle childhood obesity.

The program, Shape NC: Healthy Starts for Young Children, will focus on children through the age of 5 by working to change the polices, practices, and built environment around physical activity and healthy eating in child care.

Smart Start of Mecklenburg County is tackling the issue of childhood obesity through funding from BCBSNC Foundation by creating outdoor learning environments to increase physical activity and working with child care facilities to improve child care nutrition. Local health professionals assist with goal setting, teacher training, and technical support.

A new program that Smart Start began funding in FY09-10 is Healthy Futures Starting in the Kitchen, which instructs child care center cooks in the purchase, preparation and serving of healthy food. Classes are supplemented and reinforced with training for other staff and “take home” lessons for parents.

For more information on these programs or Smart Start of Mecklenburg County, visit www.smartstartofmeck.org. To keep up with the latest news and developments, follow our new blog at http://smartstartofmecklenburg.blogspot.com and find us on Facebook and Twitter.