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Feeding hungry minds and bodies®
is not just the focus of Children's Hunger Alliance, but also of a national initiative called Action for Healthy Kids. Action for Healthy Kids (AFHK) was initiated in response to a 2001
Surgeon General's report on the health and fitness of America's children. Chaired by former US Surgeon General
David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D., AFHK is dedicated to improving the health and educational performance of children through
better nutrition and physical activity in schools. The initiative is composed of 51 state teams and a national
coordinating and resource group. Each state team was challenged to take on three of the twelve national goals within
their state.
Children's Hunger Alliance
is providing leadership to the Ohio team. Vice President of Afterschool Nutrition & Education, Shelly Roth,
is the current chairperson for Ohio's team. Children's Hunger Alliance has been
targeting all three of the Ohio Team's goals:
- ensure that nutritious, balanced meals are offered and focus on the expansion of school breakfast
programs;
- ensure that healthy snacks and foods are provided in vending machines, school stores and other
venues within the school's control; and,
- provide adequate co-curricular physical activity programs, including fully inclusive intramural
programs and physical activity clubs; expansion of CATCH physical activity curriculum.
The pilot project allows
Children's Hunger Alliance to seed school districts with the knowledge and training to meet the three goals of
Ohio's AFHK team by educating and training one school in the district and then supporting that one school to spread
the knowledge throughout the district. With the support of Children's
Hospital in Columbus, and the American Cancer
Society, Children's Hunger Alliance will:
- assist each school in the development of a School Health Advisory Council that will establish food,
nutrition and fitness policies for the school;
- assist each school in the implementation of the appropriate School
Breakfast program and to enhance the nutritional value of the foods served in the cafeteria and other school
controlled venues; and,
- assist each school in increasing the opportunity for noncompetitive physical activity for their students
through the CATCH and pedometer programs.
For more information, call 614-341-7700, ext. 216 or e-mail.
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