HMG National: Importance of Research

For those of you out there who are interested in the research behind Help Me Grow's model, you should definitely read HMG Founder Dr. Dworkin's latest blog post. He describes the importance not just of collecting data, but analyzing and presenting it in a way that is useful for discussion about policy formation and implementation. Visit his blog and learn more about why we do things the way we do them.

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HMG Utah in the News!

Our friends at Help Me Grow Utah were featured in their local news. This is a great clip that fully describes the value of Help Me Grow in just five minutes! We're excited to be bringing this service to Central Alabama and are actively looking for ways to grow it in other parts of our state.

Social Needs are as Important as Medical

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation published a report that supports the idea behind last week’s post. We discussed that poor health outcomes are often not solely rooted in poor health inputs, but that there are frequently social influences which heavily impact wellness. In “Health Care’s Blind Side” it becomes clear that physicians frequently encounter health problems that are caused by unmet social needs. In a survey of 1,000 American physicians:

- 85% say unmet social needs are directly leading to worse health
- 85% say patients’ social needs are as important to address as their medical conditions
- 80% say they are not confident in their capacity to address their patients’ social needs

The physicians reported that if they had the power to write prescriptions to address social needs, such prescriptions would represent 1 out of every 7 they write. This study clearly illustrates that we cannot fix America’s overwhelming health concerns such as obesity, heart disease, respiratory disease, and diabetes without also addressing social concerns that play a factor.

Health Care’s Blind Side demonstrates why programs like Help Me Grow can be vitally important to bridging the gap between health concerns and social needs. A Help Me Grow care coordinator can spend time identifying a child’s physical needs and make appropriate referrals, and can also get an idea of a family’s possible social needs and help make connections to relevant services. While a Help Me Grow care coordinator’s priority is to address a child’s needs, we know that typically cannot be accomplished separate from the needs of the family. Help Me Grow and other partners are working to progressively address concerns of the health care system’s blind side.

Adverse Childhood Experiences

Early childhood obesity has been and continues to be an important issue (see our recent posts). We’ve received feedback that while improving nutrition and activity in children and adults is part of the solution, it may not be all there is to it. No one would argue that it’s easy to change a person’s lifestyle, but evidence points to the fact that we need to start earlier to better prevent obesity.

The CDC’s Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study started in 1995 with 17,000 participants and these individuals continue to be studied over time. The study asked individuals about their childhood experiences and analyzed their health. Adverse Childhood Experiences include child abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction. Ten different subcategories of traumatic stressors were identified and the results demonstrated that as an individual’s number of ACE increased, their risk for numerous health and lifestyle problems increased. One of the health problems that correlated with ACE is obesity.

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The ACE Study shows us that while we’re sending messages to parents, community leaders, politicians, and health care providers to get moving and eat well, we must also consider the very basics of family life. Our anti-obesity measures and overall health strategies need to include ways to strengthen families and nurture very young children. No social or health problem is isolated, and we must consider the entire family if we wish to grow young children into healthy adults.

TEDx: HMG

Dr. Paul Dworkin, the founder of Help Me Grow, was invited to give a TEDx talk at Bushnell Park in Hartford, CT. See the video below and feel free to visit TED.com to learn more about TED events.

7 Ways to Build Your Baby's Brain at the Grocery Story - Urban Child Institute

The Urban Child Institute recently shared this article...

"Certainly, one of any mother's least favorite errands to ever run with small children is the trip to the grocery store. Changing the focus during a shopping trip can be the ticket to salvaging the task and mom's sanity. As a bonus, it can be a time to grow your baby's brain using elements of 'Touch, Talk, Read and Play'. Read more for 7 simple things to do with baby during the standard grocery run."

Read "7 Ways to Build Your Baby's Brain at the Grocery Story" here.

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National Childhood Obesity Awareness

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On August 31st, 2013, President Barack Obama signed a proclamation declaring September as National Childhood Obesity Awareness month. We recently blogged about nationwide improvements in childhood obesity rates. While it is good news that the rate of increase has slowed, the President's proclamation draws attention to the fact that this is still a very serious concern for the nation. Michelle Obama's campaign, Let's Move! has ideas for bringing fun activities to your community this month and year round:

For Parents
Parents and caregivers can set a great example for the whole family by creating a healthy environment at home. Get updates from Let’s Move Outside! on new ideas on what and where to play outdoors with your kids.

For Community and Faith Leaders
Get involved in Let's Move Faith and Communities. We encourage you to take action to make your congregation or community a place of wellness.

For Local Elected Officials
No city, town or county is the same, and each one needs its own approach for solving childhood obesity. Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties engages local elected officials by focusing on their unique ability to promote improved nutrition and increase physical activity at the local level.

Child Care Providers and Early Education Programs
Helping children learn healthy habits early, through child care and early education programs, is critical to solving the problem of childhood obesity within a generation. Let's Move! Child Care is a voluntary initiative to empower child care and early education providers to meet 5 goals: increasing physical activity, reducing screen time, improving food choices, providing healthy beverages, and supporting breast feeding.

For Health Care Providers
Health care professionals directly impact children’s health. Let’s Move! in the Clinic is a voluntary effort by health care providers address childhood obesity. Working together with children and their families in clinics, practices, homes, schools and neighborhoods, health care professionals can make a real difference in solving the problem of childhood obesity.

For more ideas like these, check out this page!