Newsletter -- Surrounding Our Kids with Safety

Thursday April 6, 2006

Children count on adults to keep them safe from harm. Unfortunately, our built environment often harms our children more than it helps them. Children are at risk when walking or biking on unsafe roads and are exposed to a wide range of toxins at schools and at home. Designing communities that keep our children safe is vital to improving their long-term health.

Leads, poisons and mold in home and schools pose a threat to children’s safety and health. In addition, pedestrian fatalities are the leading cause of injury-related death among children. Hold a Safe Kids Fair at a local elementary school in the evening. Invite students and their parents to attend to learn more about preventing exposure to toxins and walking and biking safely. Law enforcement officers can show kids how to safely cross the street and quiz parents on safe driving in school zones. Representatives from a local bicycle shop can demonstrate safe bicycling techniques. The local poison control center can staff a booth on poisons in the home and local environmental experts can show parents how to find and eliminate mold.

What’s Happening Today

• Blue Ribbon Model Community Event:Delaware County Greenways Forum, Delaware, Ohio
• Blue Ribbon Model Community Event:Winchester Green Children’s Garden Groundbreaking, Richmond, VA
• Virginia Commonwealth University event on health disparities in children, Dr. Reed Tuckson, Sr. Vice President, United Health Group, Richmond, Va.
• Lead-Safe Yard Collaborative event, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Mass.
• Siouxland District Health Kid’s Health Fair on Healthy Communities, Healthy Kids, Sioux City, Iowa
• Walkable Communities Workshop: Streets, Neighborhoods and People, Moorhead, Minn.
• Health Day at the Capital-Creating Healthy Communities, Topeka, Kan.
• New York Residents Speak Out About Public Health, Rensselaer, N.Y.
• Child Passenger Safety Seat Event, Clive, Iowa
• Public Health Celebration, Tyler, Texas
• Healthy Kids Day at the Children’s Museum, Oak Ridge, Tenn.
  

Other events may be accessed at www.apha.org/nphw/calendar/. There is also a list of government agencies, disease organizations, health organizations and other resources available at www.apha.org/nphw/06-resources.htm.

National Public Health Week in the News

Hidden Heroes of Health, Daily Herald, April 6, 2006
http://www.dailyherald.com

Free Immunizations at Health Department, The Newport Plain Talk, April 5, 2006
http://www.cocke.xtn.net/index.php

National Public Health Week Observed April 3 to 9, Marshfield News Herald, April 6, 2006
http://www.marshfieldnewsherald.com

Public Health Week: Tobacco-Free Coalition, York Daily Record, April 5, 2006
http://www.ydr.com/newsfull/ci_3674613

Analysis: Environment Key to Kids’ Health, Science Daily, April 4, 2006
http://www.sciencedaily.com

Link to Kaiser Family Foundation Webcast of NPHW Capitol Hill Kickoff Event
http://www.kaisernetwork.org

Take Action Today!

Thursday: Surrounding Our Kids with Safety

Action Still Needed:Urge Your Members of Congress to Support The Healthy Places Act of 2006 APHA has worked with Senator Obama's staff on the introduction of the Healthy Places Act of 2006, which takes a broad look at built environment and health issues by bringing together all levels of government to these issues by: (1) establishing and supporting health impact assessment programs to proactively examine the potential health effects of major policy or programmatic changes, (2) creating a grant program to assist states and local communities to address environmental health hazards, particularly those that contribute to health disparities and (3) accelerating research on the relationship between the environment and health. Please join us in supporting this very important bill to improve the health of our communities and children. Tell your legislators to cosponsor this bill by taking action at http://www.capwiz.com

· Support the federal Safe Routes to School program, which delivers grants to communities to fund transportation projects to make it safer for school-aged children to walk and bike to school. Communities use the funds to fix hazards and build pathways, bike lanes and sidewalks near school campuses. Take Action: http://www.capwiz.com

· Support S.794, Senator Tom Harkin's (D-IA) the Safe and Complete Streets Act of 2005, which requires transportation planners to improve the safety of non-motorized transportation, including bicycle and pedestrian safety. Take Action Now: http://www.capwiz.com

Don't Forget to Submit Your NPHW Events to The Nation's Health for the June/July Issue

As you hold your celebrations for National Public Health Week this month, be sure to keep The Nation's Health in mind.An upcoming issue of the newspaper will feature coverage of National Public Health Week events that were held across the country, and your activities could be among them. After your event is over, send us a short summary of your activity, when it was held, who was involved, what the goals were and what was accomplished.Learn how to submit at event at http://www.apha.org/tnh/about/nphw06.cfm

Resources
Children’s Health:

• Action Alliance for Children: http://www.connectforkids.org/
• Ambulatory Pediatrics Association: http://www.ambpeds.org
• American Academy of Family Physicians: www.aafp.org
• American Academy of Pediatrics: http://www.aap.org
• Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs: http://www.amchp.org
• Children’s Dental Health Project: www.cdhp.org
• Comprehensive Health Education Foundation: http://www.chef.org/index_noflash.php
• Connect for Kids: http://www.connectforkids.org/
• Fight Crime: Invest in Kids: http://www.fightcrime.org/
• Health Initiatives for Youth: http://www.hify.org/
• Healthy Teen Network: http://www.healthyteennetwork.org/
• Johnson and Johnson Pediatric Institute: http://www.jjpi.com/portal/jnj/jjpi
• National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions: http://www.childrenshospitals.net/
• National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners: http://www.napnap.org
• National Center for Children in Poverty: http://www.nccp.org/
• National Institute of Child Health and Human Development: www.nichd.nih.gov
• National Organizations for Youth Safety: http://www.noys.org/
• National WIC Association: http://www.nwica.org/
• Natural Resources Defense Council, Children’s Environmental Health Initiative: http://www.nrdc.org
• Safe Routes to School http://bikesbelong.org/page.cfm?PageID=249
• The Forum for Youth Investment: http://www.forumfyi.org/index.cfm

During National Public Health Week 2006, the American Public Health Association (APHA) is focusing on a “Designing Healthy Communities: Raising Healthy Kids” campaign. The campaign focuses on helping communities assess the current status of the built environment, determine the impact it has on children’s health and identify areas for improvement. NPHW will showcase communities throughout the week that have implemented solutions to address challenges in their built environment.