In This Issue

Take1: Creating a Santa Clara County that values Healthy Eating and Exercise
Take2: Promoting Healthy Lifestyles for Kids & Families
Take3: Rethink Your Drink Campaign
Take4: I’m Ready for Kindergarten Parent Handbook
Take 5: A FIRST 5 Success Story

Take1: Creating a Santa Clara County that values Healthy Eating and Exercise

Did you know? Almost 22% of Santa Clara County children between ages 2 and 5 are either already, or at risk of becoming, overweight.

Early childhood obesity has become an epidemic that our community can no longer ignore. With this in mind, FIRST 5 convened The Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Collaborative in May 2007, co-chaired by Dr. Dan Delgado, Director of the Pediatric Healthy Lifestyle Center at Valley Medical Center. A Policy Workgroup was also formed out of the Collaborative which is chaired by Santa Clara County Supervisor Ken Yeager.

After one year of community input and research, the Collaborative has produced an Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Strategic Plan. The proposed strategies in the plan will provide a focus for the work of the Collaborative over the next 5 years, ensuring that the importance of early childhood obesity prevention is at the forefront for the whole community.

The Collaborative will focus on the following 6 goals for the 2008-09 year:

• Increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables in low-income neighborhoods through collaboration with, and expansion of, Second Harvest Food Bank’s Produce Mobile program
• Provide intensive breastfeeding support to new mothers – research shows babies who are breastfed, are less likely to be overweight later in life
• Educate parents and caregivers on healthy feeding practices, including FIRST 5 funding of the “Five Keys to Raising Healthy, Happy Eaters” parent workshop
• Encourage city community centers, Parks and Recreation Departments, and other organizations to develop affordable programming and opportunities for young children to be physically active
• Implement a community-based outreach campaign to early care/ preschool providers and parents to manage TV watching/screen time
• Train healthcare providers on childhood obesity prevention messages and best practices

Did you know? In Santa Clara County, there are more than four times as many fast-food restaurants and convenience stores as there are supermarkets and produce vendors.

Dr. Dan Delgado, Pediatric Healthy Lifestyle Center, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and Co-Chair, Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Collaborative

"As a general pediatrician fresh out of residency, I was appalled by the number of obese young children I was seeing in clinic. It seemed as if the problem was growing worse by number and severity on a monthly basis. These were not kids with "baby fat" but morbidly obese kids with adult problems like obstructive sleep apnea, fatty liver, high blood pressure and insulin resistance (pre-diabetes). I quickly realized that lifestyle intervention in these patients was very difficult.

“Through years of experience I have come to learn that the earlier we intervene, the more likely the patient will succeed at changing their lifestyle and improving their health. Unfortunately, even starting at age six appears to be too late to start because success rates rapidly diminish after age five. Thus, implementing lifestyle interventions early, even before pre-school, seems to be the best way to positively impact the greatest number of children. This is why I decided to serve as Co-Chair of the Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Collaborative. With almost thirty percent of Santa Clara County children under age five being overweight, there is the need and the moral obligation to create systemic change so that we do not lose a generation to metabolic syndrome. The Collaborative's efforts to raise awareness and promote broad reforms is a strategic initial step to helping those that are too young to help themselves."

Take2: Promoting Healthy Lifestyles for Kids & Families

(Reprint article from the VMC Foundation’s Spring 2008 Lifelines Newsletter)

Childhood obesity is an ever-increasing problem facing Silicon Valley families. Over the past five years, obesity rates have remained high in Santa Clara County among low-income children. Not only do overweight youth face serious health concerns, they also are at risk for low self-esteem and eating disorders. We’re doing something to change this!

The Pediatric Healthy Lifestyle Center (PHLC) works with families to combat the county’s growing epidemic of childhood obesity. As the name connotes, the goal of the PHLC is not weight loss but rather helping obese children adopt healthy lifestyle habits by using an incremental behavioral change approach. By focusing on healthy eating and active play, kids slowly begin to take responsibility for their health with astonishing results. PHLC staff sees not only weight loss but also improved physical fitness, healthier eating, improved self-esteem, lowered blood pressure, and improvement in blood sugar and cholesterol levels. The PHLC facilitates two distinct programs for children in different age groups.

Cambie Su Vida, or Change Your Life, is a program designed to promote incremental lifestyle change in children 11 years and older struggling with overweight and obesity-related health issues. By partnering with the YMCA, the objective is to engage the participants in a sustained program of appropriate physical activity coupled with a commitment to making better food choices.

The other program offered at the PHLC is Salud Para Juventud, or Health for Youth, a first-of-its kind intervention program for pre-kindergarten kids and their families. Instead of waiting for children to develop the comorbidities associated with overweight and obesity, Salud Para Juventud identifies at-risk children at an early age and intervenes with a focused prevention effort that educates parents about positive eating practices.

The Pediatric Healthy Lifestyle Center is made possible through the generous ongoing support of the Myra Reinhard Family Foundation, as well as investments from The Health Trust and the Kaiser Foundation.

In 2007, the Pediatric Healthy Lifestyle Center was awarded the YMCA Activate America Award, as well as the California Association of Public Hospitals Top Honors in the category of Improvements in Chronic Disease Management. The center was developed and is directed by Dr. Daniel Delgado, a pediatrician who specializes in issues of childhood obesity and resulting medical conditions, especially pre-Diabetes. The majority of PHLC’s patients are low-income Spanish-speaking families. All staff members are bi-lingual and bi-cultural and clinic materials are provided in Spanish and English. The staff of the PHLC takes pride in providing culturally competent and culturally sensitive care.

“We recently worked with a child who was not yet obese but was clearly heading in that direction. By educating her mother and removing roadblocks to physical activity, she has now adopted healthy habits that will hopefully last a lifetime.” ~ Daniel Delgado, MD

Take3: Rethink Your Drink Campaign

Did you know? The average 4 to 5 year old consumes nearly 65 pounds of added sugar every year.

30% of all calories consumed daily by Americans are from sweetened beverages. This is why FIRST 5 is joining the Bay Area Nutrition & Physical Activity Collaborative in the Rethink Your Drink/Soda-Free Summer campaign. This campaign, launched on June 4th, challenges families to make a difference in their health by setting aside soda and other sweetened beverages throughout the summer.

FIRST 5 is bringing this message to families with children ages 0 to 5 by encouraging families to choose water and milk for their children, over juice pouches and juice blends.

Did you know? An 11.25 oz juice pouch contains 9 ½ teaspoons of sugar!

To limit your child’s sugar intake, FIRST 5 encourages your family to Rethink Your Child’s Drink and only serve water or milk.

Click Bellow for for Flyer

Rethink Your Drink Flyer - English

Rethink Your Drink Flyer - Spanish

Rethink Your Drink Flyer - Chinese

Rethink Your Drink Flyer - Vietnamese

Take4: I’m Ready for Kindergarten Parent Handbook

How do I know if my child is ready to begin kindergarten? What do the teachers expect from my child? And what does “ready” even look like?

Answers to these questions and more, plus tips and resources for parents and caregivers to help prepare their child to successfully enter kindergarten are NOW AVAILABLE!

FIRST 5, in collaboration with the Santa Clara County Partnership for School Readiness, has developed a parent handbook available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese and Mandarin. Contact FIRST 5 for your copy today, or download the web version from www.first5kids.org (click on the I’m Ready for Kindergarten tab).

Take5: A FIRST 5 Success Story

(The Family Law Treatment Court program is funded by FIRST 5)

Stacie began Family Law Treatment Court (FLTC) in the first quarter of 2008 after a hearing in which the custody of her 5 year old daughter was switched from Mother to Father due to her drug use. She was placed on supervised visitation for the next 6 months. Stacie was placed in an outpatient program for pregnant mothers prior to entering FLTC but she needed the integrity of FLTC to help her establish her commitment to recovery. In this program she is required to fulfill 150 hours of classes and counseling. She has now completed 120 of those hours, had a clean and sober baby girl and has had no positive tests or relapses.

FLTC has a commitment to our participants to provide review hearings with their all purpose judge while they work on their recovery. Because of her commitment to FLTC and her sobriety, in a recent review hearing, Stacie was taken off supervised visitation and re-established a generous time share of custody that is very close to 50/50. This generous time share was established with the Father and her all purpose judge because of her participation in FLTC.

This may not have gone as well without her participation in FLTC and the high integrity that FLTC holds within the legal community and with the Judges of Family Court.

Previous Newsletters:

Take5 March Issue 08 Newsletter
Take5 Winter Issue 07 Newsletter
Take5 Winter Issue 07 Newsletter
Take5 Fall Issue 07 Newsletter
Take5 Summer Issue 07 Newsletter
Take5 Spring Issue Newsletter » (pdf, 464 KB)
Take5 Summer Issue Newsletter » (pdf, 579 KB)

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