The ARC of New Jersey has published the August/September issue of Prevention Counts.

In this issue, you will find:

* International FAS Day is September 9 (09/09) for 9 months alcohol free. If you see our ads in your local papers let us know.
* Upcoming Research on FASD
* August is Immunization Awareness Month: Are You Up-to-Date?
* US Department of Agriculture has launched a newly revised campaign for better nutrition.
* Lastly, but really important, you will have an opportunity to update your information in our records.

By all means, pass this newsletter as a resource to your clients, coworkers, family members, and friends.  We want to continue the STRONG statewide effort of prevention in New Jersey and your participation is vital!

Read this exciting Prevention Counts issue NOW.

EFNEP helps limited-resource families and youth improve their eating behaviors and contributes to other personal development skills through behaviorally focused nutrition education. The program is administered by Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES) Cooperative Extension, and is supported by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Smith- Lever funds

Located in Essex, County New Jersey, you can get more information by clicking directly on this link.

This is a must have resource for anyone dealing with families with limited resources.

A bad diet may lead to bad health for many inner-city kids. And it may also lead to bad behavior.

That’s the conclusion of some public health experts who are advocating for vitamins and other nutritional supplements to curb youth violence and to increase learning. The controversial idea is getting a fresh hearing in Baltimore, where advocates for the disadvantaged are considering testing it on city kids.

If it’s proven that a tablet a day can tick up test scores and dial down violence, it could be a cheaper and easier means of improving a lot of young lives than costly and labor-intensive treatments, according to the Abell Foundation, which wants to determine whether a Baltimore study would be worthwhile.

You can read the full report here at Vitamins and Violence

Preventing Childhood Obesity in Early Care and Education Programs,  the new set of national standards describing evidence-based and expert consensus on best practices in nutrition, physical activity, and screen time for early care and education programs are now AVAILABLE. Access them at http://nrckids.org/CFOC3/PDFVersion/preventing_obesity.pdf. These updated standards will be a part of the comprehensive Caring for Our
Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards; Guidelines for Early Care and Education Pro­grams, Third Edition (CFOC, 3rd Ed.) to be released in 2011. The standards are for all types of early care and education settings – centers and family child care homes.
 
Preventing Childhood Obesity in Early Care and Education Programs contains practical intervention strategies to prevent excessive weight gain in young children. The standards detail opportunities for facilities and caregivers/teachers  to work with families beginning on day one of an infant’s enrollment to prevent childhood obesity by promoting a healthy and active lifestyle.
Areas of coverage:
·         General Nutrition Requirements
·         Meal and Snack Patterns
·         Requirements for Infants and Support Breastfeeding of Infants
·         Requirements for Toddlers and Preschoolers
·         Meal Service and Supervision
·         Food Brought from Home
·         Nutrition Education
·         Active Opportunities for Physical Activity
·         Outdoor and Indoor Play Time
·         Caregivers/Teachers’ Encouragement of Physical Activity
·         Screen Time Limits
·         Policies on  Infant Feeding, Food and Nutrition Services, and
Physical Activity

Caring for Our Children standards are developed through a public-private partnership with the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Public Health Association, the National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). Funding for the pre-released selected standards was provided by the Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Child Care Bureau.
 
Preventing Childhood Obesity is available at http://nrckids.org/CFOC3/PDFVersion/preventing_obesity.pdf.
Additional Caring for Our Children and related health and safety resources can be found at http://nrckids.org.

American Legion Auxiliary Post 312   &  The New Jersey Parents Caucus invite you to the 1st Annual Morris County Health Fair on July 17, 2010 from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.  This fun health event will be held at the American Legion Post 312, 78 Abbett Avenue & Legion Place, Morristown, NJ 07960 .

Many health professionals will be on hand for blood pressure screening, Oral Cancer Screening, Hearing Screening, Fat, Sugar & Salt Display, Lead Poisoning Information Table, Epilepsy Information & Referral, Crisis Response Information, Carbon Monoxide Information Table, HIV/Aids Prevention, Mental Health & Substance Abuse Information & Referral Services, Special Education Information & Referral, Mind Probe Personality Screening, NJ Family Care Insurance Information, Early Intervention Services Information, Health and Wellness Information Tables, Organ Donor Information

Free Tee Shirt & Airbrushing will be given to the first 100 Children

Free Barbecue:  Hamburgers, Hotdogs, Soda, Water

USDA Launches Apps for Healthy Kids Competition as part of Let’s Move! Campaign 
 
Contestants Will Compete for $40,000 in Prizes As They Develop New Tools to Help Raise a Generation of Healthier Kids 
  
WASHINGTON, Mar. 10, 2010 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture joined First Lady Michelle Obama today in announcing the innovative Apps for Healthy Kids competition to Americans as part of the Let’s Move! initiative. Apps for Healthy Kids challenges software developers, game designers, students, and other innovators to develop innovative, fun, and engaging tools and games that help kids and their parents to eat better and be more physically active.
“First Lady Michelle Obama has challenged America to tackle the issues of child nutrition and obesity and she knows that the Federal Government cannot do it alone – which is why we are launching this challenge, to tap America’s ingenuity by enlisting the most creative, talented, and kid-savvy innovators across the nation to put their skills to the cause of empowering parents and inspiring kids to get active and eat healthy,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Apps for Healthy Kids competition entries will leverage the recently-released MyPyramid 1,000 food database to create web or mobile-based apps in two categories. The first set of prizes will be awarded to digital games that best engage and motivate kids to eat healthy and be physically active. The second set of prizes will be awarded to the most creative tools for parents striving to make the right choices for their kids. So when they are planning meals, at the grocery store, or picking up dinner on the way home from work, parents can instantly access easy-to-understand nutritional information they can trust.

Contestants will compete for $40,000 in cash prizes and the chance to shine before USDA’s all-star panel of judges, including Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, Inc.; Mark Pincus, CEO of Zynga Game Network, Inc.; Michael Levine, Executive Director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop; Mike Gallagher, President and CEO of the Entertainment Software Association; Aneesh Chopra, U.S. Chief Technology Officer, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; and David Lazarus, Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Agriculture.

In addition to medal winners, the judges will announce a Popular Choice Award, which will go to the contestant with the most public votes. Members of the public can register and vote at www.AppsforHealthyKids.com, between noon on July 14 to noon on August 14.

All winners will be honored at a White House event in Washington, DC. Importantly, Apps for Healthy Kids gives game developers and other innovators the chance to help give kids the healthy lives they deserve.

Entries must be submitted between March 10, and June 30, 2010. Official rules may be found at www.AppsForHealthyKids.com.

The U.S Department of Agriculture is an active member of the Let’s Move! team, alongside the Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. For more information on the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative visit www.LetsMove.gov. The Apps for Healthy Kids competition is a collaborative initiative of the White House Office of the First Lady, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service and the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion.

 Join Commissioner Angela Glover Blackwell to Discuss Recommendations from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America Related to Early Childhood  

This webinar is the first in a three-part series hosted by the Commission to publicly discuss recommendations from the report released in April, Beyond Health Care: New Directions to a Healthier America. The first webinar is designed for those interested in early childhood and who might be unfamiliar with the Commission and its recommendations in this area, which emphasize early childhood programs, nutritional needs and K-12 physical activity.

Learn more and register to attend.

 The early years of life set us on paths toward—or away from—good health. On Friday, July 24, 2009, 1 p.m.–2 p.m. ET, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America will host a webinar with Angela Glover Blackwell, commissioner and PolicyLink founder and CEO, and Robin Mockenhaupt, Ph.D., M.P.H., chief of staff for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, on the importance of starting early to give all children the chance to grow up healthy.