Health and Safety Archives - Appletree Day Care, Inc

One in 5 children in the United States are obese. Childhood obesity puts kids at risk for health problems that were once seen only in adults, like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.

The good news? Childhood obesity can be prevented. Communities, health professionals, and families can work together to create opportunities for kids to eat healthier and get more active.

Make a difference for kids: spread the word about strategies for preventing childhood obesity and encourage communities, organizations, families, and individuals to get involved.

How can National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month make a difference?

We can all use this month to raise awareness about the obesity epidemic and show people how they can help work towards a solution.

Here are just a few ideas:

Encourage families to make small changes, like keeping fresh fruit within reach or going on a family walk after dinner.
Motivate teachers and administrators to make schools healthier. Help them provide healthy food options and daily physical activities for students.
Ask doctors and nurses to be leaders in their communities by supporting programs to prevent childhood obesity.

How can I help spread the word?

We’ve made it easier for you to make a difference. This toolkit is full of ideas to help you take action today. For example:

Sponsor: American College of Sports Medicine

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Find More Information

The American College of Sports Medicine
National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month Sponsor
How Much Physical Activity Do Children Need?
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
8 Healthy Eating Goals
The President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition
Childhood Overweight and Obesity
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Tips for Getting Active with Your Family
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
MyPlate Kids’ Place
United States Department of Agriculture
Healthy Weight Basics
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Nutrition Tools and Resources
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Campaigns and Informational Approaches to Increase Physical Activity
Community Preventive Services Task Force

Breastfeeding is the best source of nutrition for most infants. It can also reduce the risk for some short- and long-term health conditions for both infants and mothers.

Most mothers want to breastfeed but stop early due to a lack of ongoing support. Certain factors make the difference in whether and how long infants are breastfed. For more information on why breastfeeding matters, what CDC is doing to increase breastfeeding rates, and how we are making a difference, explore the options below.

For More Information Please Visit

For more information, please visit www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding

Why It Matters

Only 1 in 4 infants is exclusively breastfed as recommended by the time they are 6 months old.

Low rates of breastfeeding add more than $3 billion a year to medical costs for the mother and child in the United States.

Black infants are 21% less likely to have ever been breastfed than white infants.

Breastfeeding is an Investment in Health, Not Just a Lifestyle Decision

Benefits for Infants

Infants who are breastfed have reduced
risks of:

Asthma
Obesity
Type 2 diabetes
Ear and respiratory infections
Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
Gastrointestinal infections (diarrhea/vomiting)
Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) for preterm infants

Benefits for Mothers

Breastfeeding can help lower a mother’s risk of:

High blood pressure
Type 2 diabetes
Ovarian cancer
Breast cancer

“Breastfeeding provides unmatched health benefits for babies and mothers. It is the clinical gold standard for infant feeding and nutrition, with breast milk uniquely tailored to meet the health needs of a growing baby. We must do more to create supportive and safe environments for mothers who choose to breastfeed.”

Dr. Ruth Petersen, Director of CDC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity

What CDC is Doing

CDC’s Work to Support and Promote Breastfeeding

We collect data to learn how best to improve breastfeeding rates in the United States by:

Tracking how long infants are breastfed.
Creating reports that show how well states and hospitals support breastfeeding mothers.

We promote best practices in health care settings by:

Supporting the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, a global standard to promote breastfeeding in hospitals.
Encouraging obstetricians, pediatricians[PDF-405KB], and nurses[PDF-363KB] to educate new moms about breastfeeding.

We support mothers at work and in their communities by:

Partnering with states to help employers support breastfeeding mothers with places to pump and store breast milk, flexible work hours, and maternity leave benefits.
Promoting access to community supports like peer counseling and supplemental nutrition programs.

Making A Difference

In the United States, the percentage of babies who start out breastfeeding increased from 73% in 2004 to 83% in 2015.

In the United States, the percentage of births in hospitals with recommended maternity care practices that support breastfeeding increased from 1.9% in 2008 to 26.1% in 2018.

“Given the importance of breastfeeding on the health of mothers and children, it is critical that we take action to support breastfeeding. Only through the support of family, communities, clinicians, healthcare systems, and employers will we be able to make breastfeeding the easy choice.”

Dr. Jerome M. Adams, U.S. Surgeon General

For More Information Please Visit

For more information, please visit www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding

Health and Safety

September – National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month