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HHS Rewards States for Coverage
The Department of Health and Human Services has awarded more than $72 million in bonuses to nine states for enrolling more eligible children in Medicaid and for making other improvements in that program as well as the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Funding for the state “performance bonuses” was included in the CHIP reauthorization last year. The states that qualified for bonuses adopted at least five of eight prescribed program features, such as using a joint application for both Medicaid and CHIP and streamlining eligibility renewals. The rewards went to Alaska, Alabama, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington.
Marketing Standards Proposed
The Federal Trade Commission and three other federal agencies have unveiled draft standards for companies marketing foods to children aged 2–17 years. Required by a 2009 law, the standards would allow unlimited marketing of pure fruits, fruit juices, vegetables, low-fat milk products, and whole grains but zero marketing of processed foods with high levels of sodium, sugar, trans fats, and saturated fats. Processed foods could be marketed to children only if they were high in healthy ingredients and low in unhealthy ones, the FTC said. The agencies are to give Congress their marketing recommendations this summer. Meanwhile, a study by the advocacy group Children Now found that nearly three-quarters of foods advertised to children on television are in what the Department of Agriculture considers the poorest nutritional category. Advertising for truly healthy products, such as fruits and vegetables, is nearly nonexistent, the group said.
Head Start, Healthy Lifestyles
The majority of Head Start programs report doing more to support healthy eating and physical activity than is required by existing federal regulations, a study showed. Researchers from Temple University, Philadelphia, and Mathematica Policy Research analyzed survey responses from most Head Start programs in the United States. They found that 70% of programs reported serving only nonfat or 1% milk, and 75% of programs reported providing children with at least 30 minutes of adult-led physical activity per day. Federal regulations do not specify the type of milk children should be served, nor do they specify how long children should be physically active each day. Head Start serves 1 million low-income preschool students, 30% of whom are obese or overweight. The study was published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
Home Visits Fight Asthma
A few home visits by a health care specialist to educate children with asthma about basic strategies for earlier symptom recognition and better medication use can lead to fewer flare-ups and less-frequent trips to the emergency department, a study in Pediatrics showed. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, found that in-home training on the proper use of inhalers, plus discussions with families about regular access to a pediatrician, were important in preventing attacks. Home visits provided tailored asthma-action plans including lists of must-take daily medications and advice on when to seek emergency care, the researchers said. “We compared several strategies to improve asthma control among children and, much to our delight, we found that taking a few simple steps can go a long way toward doing so,” senior investigator Kristin Riekert, Ph.D., said in a statement.
NIH Focuses on Obesity Prevention
The National Institutes of Health is committing $37 million to research on better ways to reduce obesity. The program, “Translating Basic Behavioral and Social Science Discoveries Into Interventions to Reduce Obesity,” will fund interdisciplinary teams at seven sites. Dr. Francis S. Collins, NIH director, said that the interventions being developed include new ways to promote awareness of eating behaviors, decrease the desire for high-calorie foods, reduce stress-related eating, increase motivation to adhere to weight-loss strategies, engage patients' social networks and communities to encourage physical activity, and improve sleep patterns.
HHS Rewards States for Coverage
The Department of Health and Human Services has awarded more than $72 million in bonuses to nine states for enrolling more eligible children in Medicaid and for making other improvements in that program as well as the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Funding for the state “performance bonuses” was included in the CHIP reauthorization last year. The states that qualified for bonuses adopted at least five of eight prescribed program features, such as using a joint application for both Medicaid and CHIP and streamlining eligibility renewals. The rewards went to Alaska, Alabama, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington.
Marketing Standards Proposed
The Federal Trade Commission and three other federal agencies have unveiled draft standards for companies marketing foods to children aged 2–17 years. Required by a 2009 law, the standards would allow unlimited marketing of pure fruits, fruit juices, vegetables, low-fat milk products, and whole grains but zero marketing of processed foods with high levels of sodium, sugar, trans fats, and saturated fats. Processed foods could be marketed to children only if they were high in healthy ingredients and low in unhealthy ones, the FTC said. The agencies are to give Congress their marketing recommendations this summer. Meanwhile, a study by the advocacy group Children Now found that nearly three-quarters of foods advertised to children on television are in what the Department of Agriculture considers the poorest nutritional category. Advertising for truly healthy products, such as fruits and vegetables, is nearly nonexistent, the group said.
Head Start, Healthy Lifestyles
The majority of Head Start programs report doing more to support healthy eating and physical activity than is required by existing federal regulations, a study showed. Researchers from Temple University, Philadelphia, and Mathematica Policy Research analyzed survey responses from most Head Start programs in the United States. They found that 70% of programs reported serving only nonfat or 1% milk, and 75% of programs reported providing children with at least 30 minutes of adult-led physical activity per day. Federal regulations do not specify the type of milk children should be served, nor do they specify how long children should be physically active each day. Head Start serves 1 million low-income preschool students, 30% of whom are obese or overweight. The study was published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
Home Visits Fight Asthma
A few home visits by a health care specialist to educate children with asthma about basic strategies for earlier symptom recognition and better medication use can lead to fewer flare-ups and less-frequent trips to the emergency department, a study in Pediatrics showed. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, found that in-home training on the proper use of inhalers, plus discussions with families about regular access to a pediatrician, were important in preventing attacks. Home visits provided tailored asthma-action plans including lists of must-take daily medications and advice on when to seek emergency care, the researchers said. “We compared several strategies to improve asthma control among children and, much to our delight, we found that taking a few simple steps can go a long way toward doing so,” senior investigator Kristin Riekert, Ph.D., said in a statement.
NIH Focuses on Obesity Prevention
The National Institutes of Health is committing $37 million to research on better ways to reduce obesity. The program, “Translating Basic Behavioral and Social Science Discoveries Into Interventions to Reduce Obesity,” will fund interdisciplinary teams at seven sites. Dr. Francis S. Collins, NIH director, said that the interventions being developed include new ways to promote awareness of eating behaviors, decrease the desire for high-calorie foods, reduce stress-related eating, increase motivation to adhere to weight-loss strategies, engage patients' social networks and communities to encourage physical activity, and improve sleep patterns.
HHS Rewards States for Coverage
The Department of Health and Human Services has awarded more than $72 million in bonuses to nine states for enrolling more eligible children in Medicaid and for making other improvements in that program as well as the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Funding for the state “performance bonuses” was included in the CHIP reauthorization last year. The states that qualified for bonuses adopted at least five of eight prescribed program features, such as using a joint application for both Medicaid and CHIP and streamlining eligibility renewals. The rewards went to Alaska, Alabama, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington.
Marketing Standards Proposed
The Federal Trade Commission and three other federal agencies have unveiled draft standards for companies marketing foods to children aged 2–17 years. Required by a 2009 law, the standards would allow unlimited marketing of pure fruits, fruit juices, vegetables, low-fat milk products, and whole grains but zero marketing of processed foods with high levels of sodium, sugar, trans fats, and saturated fats. Processed foods could be marketed to children only if they were high in healthy ingredients and low in unhealthy ones, the FTC said. The agencies are to give Congress their marketing recommendations this summer. Meanwhile, a study by the advocacy group Children Now found that nearly three-quarters of foods advertised to children on television are in what the Department of Agriculture considers the poorest nutritional category. Advertising for truly healthy products, such as fruits and vegetables, is nearly nonexistent, the group said.
Head Start, Healthy Lifestyles
The majority of Head Start programs report doing more to support healthy eating and physical activity than is required by existing federal regulations, a study showed. Researchers from Temple University, Philadelphia, and Mathematica Policy Research analyzed survey responses from most Head Start programs in the United States. They found that 70% of programs reported serving only nonfat or 1% milk, and 75% of programs reported providing children with at least 30 minutes of adult-led physical activity per day. Federal regulations do not specify the type of milk children should be served, nor do they specify how long children should be physically active each day. Head Start serves 1 million low-income preschool students, 30% of whom are obese or overweight. The study was published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
Home Visits Fight Asthma
A few home visits by a health care specialist to educate children with asthma about basic strategies for earlier symptom recognition and better medication use can lead to fewer flare-ups and less-frequent trips to the emergency department, a study in Pediatrics showed. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, found that in-home training on the proper use of inhalers, plus discussions with families about regular access to a pediatrician, were important in preventing attacks. Home visits provided tailored asthma-action plans including lists of must-take daily medications and advice on when to seek emergency care, the researchers said. “We compared several strategies to improve asthma control among children and, much to our delight, we found that taking a few simple steps can go a long way toward doing so,” senior investigator Kristin Riekert, Ph.D., said in a statement.
NIH Focuses on Obesity Prevention
The National Institutes of Health is committing $37 million to research on better ways to reduce obesity. The program, “Translating Basic Behavioral and Social Science Discoveries Into Interventions to Reduce Obesity,” will fund interdisciplinary teams at seven sites. Dr. Francis S. Collins, NIH director, said that the interventions being developed include new ways to promote awareness of eating behaviors, decrease the desire for high-calorie foods, reduce stress-related eating, increase motivation to adhere to weight-loss strategies, engage patients' social networks and communities to encourage physical activity, and improve sleep patterns.