Full Potential Update 2009

FULL POTENTIAL

2009:

Actions on Obesity

An update to:

FACTS ABOUT GROWING UP HEALTHY IN FRANKLIN COUNTY:

2008 Collaborative Children’s Health Report

Table of Contents

Reaching Their Full Potential ................................1Moving Forward ..................................................2The Launch of Full Potential .................................3 Actions on Obesity: Community Update ..............4Children’s Hunger Alliance ...................................5Columbus City Schools ........................................7Danny Gwirtz Finds Self-conﬁdence atHealthier Weight ...............................................10Columbus Public Health.......................................12Ohio Action for Healthy Kids ................................14OSU College of Education, Department of Human Nutrition, OSU Extension .....................15 YMCA of Central Ohio .........................................16Stambaugh Family Continues Weight LossSuccess .............................................................18Nationwide Children’s Hospital ............................20Critical Funders ....................................................26Ohio Business Roundtable: Advocating for Children’s Health ..............................................27Recommendations for Addressing PediatricObesity .............................................................28

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Reaching Their Full Potential

CONTINUING THE CONVERSATIONON PEDIATRIC OBESITY

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n 2008, Nationwide Children’s Hospital was honored tocollaborate with 20 community partners to create

Full Potential: Facts About Growing Up Healthy in Franklin County, 2008Collaborative Children’s Health Report.

This inaugural report identified10 critical indicators for our children’s health. Each issue was explored with insights from local experts and brought to life bythe stories of children and families affected. Pediatric obesity rose to the forefront in the report as the most significant obstacleimpeding the current and future ability of our children to reach their full potential.The initial report clearly defined the need for interventions and the opportunity to partner. For 2009, we have againcollaborated with local resources to deliver this update report highlighting strategies within our community to reduce theincidence of childhood obesity. Nationwide Children’s has actively joined this effort and we are excited to report on severalnew initiatives. Most notable for us is the launch of our Healthy Neighborhoods, Healthy Families (HNHF) program.Modeled after successful urban revitalization programs from across the country, HNHF presents a multi-pronged approachto addressing barriers to health and well-being for the thousands of families surrounding our downtown campus. Combatingchildhood obesity is a foundational element of our HNHF health platform, creating new partnerships with area neighborhoodassociations, Columbus City Schools, Columbus Health Department and many others.We are fortunate to have many community partners included in this report representing health care, education, social services,government, business and foundations. All are reaching outside their own systems to work with other organizations to addressthe obesity issue.Collaboration is key, because, while obesity is a nationwide epidemic, its remedies will be discovered locally by organizationsworking together to develop and test many new ideas. This is precisely what is happening in Franklin County now, as reflectedon these pages. During 2008, the organizations represented in this report were involved in a significant number of programsthat brought opportunities for making healthy changes to children and families in central Ohio.In addition to the benefits these programs are creating in our community, they hold the potential to extend beyond the bordersof the state. A concerted effort is being made to report information and best practices nationwide, and what we do in FranklinCounty may one day inform a national model for the prevention and treatment of childhood obesity.Nationwide Children’s thanks our partners for their commitment and actions on obesity. Ours is a “can do” community,supported by a wealth of institutional knowledge and expertise, as well as the capacity and desire to tap wide-ranging pointsof view. Together, we can craft a better future for our children. Please read on to learn how Nationwide Children’s and ourcommunity partners are working to combat childhood obesity.Steve Allen, MDChief Executive OfficerNationwide Children’s HospitalColumbus, Ohio