NUMC’S PEDIATRIC DEPARTMENT RECEIVES $25,000 HEALTHY ACTIVE LIVING GRANT FROM AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 8, 2013
PRESS CONTACT:
Shelley Lotenberg
shelley@numc.edu
516-572-6055
NUMC’S PEDIATRIC DEPARTMENT RECEIVES $25,000 HEALTHY ACTIVE LIVING GRANT FROM AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS
—One of 5 Recipients Nationwide to Help Affect Health Outcomes among Low Income Child Populations Served by NuHealth—
East Meadow, NY………Arthur A. Gianelli, President/CEO of the NuHealth System, announces that the department of pediatrics at the Nassau University Medical Center, has been awarded a $25,000 grant from the American Academy of Pediatrics to promote Healthy Active Living (HAL) behaviors (nutrition and physical activity) targeting children 0-5 yrs and their families who attend daycare centers in Nassau County.
In a letter dated September 25, 2013, Drs. David Fagan, Marc Jacobson and pediatric resident Luis Zamora-Siliezar, were notified of the grant award: “Congratulations! Your application for a 2014-2015 Healthy Active Living Grant, sponsored by the AAP with support from the MetLife Foundation, was one of 5 proposals selected for an award out of a field of 14. We are very excited about this program to engage and support parents of young children in health active living. We also look forward to supporting enhanced collaboration between AAP chapters and pediatric residency programs,” said Judith C. Dolins, AAP associate executive director and director in the department of community, chapter and state affairs.
The project will focus on daycare centers in several vulnerable communities that NuHealth serves, Roosevelt, Westbury, Hempstead, Freeport, Uniondale. NuHealth’s community partner is the Childcare Council of Nassau (CCCN). NUMC’s residents will serve as child care health consultants at child care centers by promoting breastfeeding, decreased screen time and increased physical activity. Residents will help create a sustainable bridge between pediatricians and the child care community.
“We are delighted to have been selected by the American Academy of Pediatrics as one of five grantees in the United States, to receive a Healthy Active Living Grant for $25,000. This is totally in line with our population health management initiatives in helping people lead healthier lives by educating families on proper nutrition and increased physical activities, including having a lasting impact on a reduction in obesity rates,” stated Gianelli. “The 2003 CDC Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance Report identified Nassau County WIC program as having the highest percentage of overweight 2 to 5 year olds in NY State (24.1%), with 5.2% of residents living below the poverty level, with a large portion foreign born residents living in Nassau. NUMC’s staff will work primarily with Freeport, Roosevelt, Hempstead, Uniondale and Westbury communities which have the poorest health, housing and socio-economic conditions in Nassau County.”
David Fagan, MD, chair of the pediatrics department at NUMC, congratulated his staff upon receiving the grant: “This grant will help us to improve HAL practices among low income children in Nassau County by maximizing the health promoting potential in child care settings. This is in keeping with NuHealth’s mission of managing population health. The grant will allow us to deepen our collaborations with our local AAP chapter and grow new relationships with a broad array of early childhood partners to offer nutritional education to families and their children with our primary community partner, CCCN.”
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