Expanding Nutritional Counseling to Prevent Childhood Obesity

Efforts to improve children’s nutrition have been gaining momentum, with new standards for school lunches in effect this year and community gardens in harvest across the country. Yet for many, the annual well-child visit continues to be a missed opportunity to address poor eating habits. Given the health risks of childhood obesity, offering positive, practical guidance on nutrition in a clinical setting could prove beneficial for protecting children’s long-term health.

This webinar on strategies for improving nutritional guidance for youth covered the following:

• The critical importance of proper nutrition in childhood
• A brief overview of federal efforts to support improvements
• The origins of the Healthy Generation Benefit pilot, a multi-sector partnership to provide effective nutrition support for overweight children
• A health plan experience participating in the pilot, with pragmatic considerations for providing coverage for nutritional counseling

This webinar was developed under a cooperative agreement with the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration.