Creating a Healthier Future for Our Kids, Families, and Communities

Download the essay written for GIH’s 2011 annual meeting Creating a Healthier Future for Our Kids, Families, and Communities, which challenges grantmakers to envision a healthier future for children, families, and communities by working on many fronts. Foundation and health leaders were also invited to share their thoughts around the annual meeting theme.

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Making the Connection: Pregnancy and Oral Health

Recent research indicates that efforts to support oral health can begin even before birth; just as a pregnant woman’s overall health can affect the health of her pregnancy and baby, her oral health can play a role in the occurrence of early childhood caries in her children.

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The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act: A Briefing for Funders

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which covers all federal child nutrition programs (including school meals) and helps ensure that children from low-income families receive healthy food, has been signed into law. This webinar served as an update to the related webinar GIH held before passage, and included a briefing on what is in the bill and ways for funders to support implementation, fill gaps, and otherwise promote child nutrition.

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Home Visiting: Giving Parents and Children an Early Boost

Thousands of children are born each year to parents who struggle to adequately care for them or who lack traditional support networks. As a result, many of these children are at risk for abuse, neglect, or other negative outcomes.

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Fall Forum Plenary & Reception: On-the-Ground Washington Update on the Progress of Health Reform

The 2010 GIH Fall Forum was held on November 9, 2010 in Washington, D.C.

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Back to the Beginning: Obesity Prevention in Early Childhood

Recent efforts in the field of child obesity prevention have placed emphasis on the school-age population, and with good reason. Schools present a unique opportunity to reach large groups of children on a regular basis with healthy foods and physical activity. However, about 10 percent of children come to kindergarten already obese, indicating that more attention needs to focus on the period of life before school.

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Intervening Early to Address Children’s Health Disparities

In the United States, children of color and those in low-income families continue to lag behind white and affluent children on nearly every health indicator. In addition, many of these indicators and conditions, such as preterm birth, low birth weight, and asthma, can have long-term influences on children’s healthy development and functioning.

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Schools as Entry Points for Children’s Mental Health Services

Health grantmakers are in a strong position to support efforts to increase children’s access to mental health services by funding school-based services, building relationships between schools and service providers, disseminating information, and promoting policy change.

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School-Based Health Centers: Enabling Health Care Access for Children and Youth “Where They Are”

School-based health centers serve over 2 million students attending U.S. public schools each year and can help reduce health-related absences and support students to be healthy and ready to learn in the classroom.

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