“Healthy Weight in Preschool Children”

A Sound Partners Project from
Central Michigan University Public Broadcasting and
Michigan Community Coordinated Child Care (4C) Mt. Pleasant, Michigan

Obesity in preschool age children is reaching epidemic proportions in the United States. Incidence of child-onset diabetes — due largely to poor diet — is climbing. The portrayal of body image in our culture gives young people a false idea of what healthy weight looks, contributing to eating disorders that threaten the lives of adolescents. These examples all affect a child’s ability to succeed. Because children's behaviors and life attitudes are primarily formed in their preschool years, it’s critical to provide adults interacting with preschoolers, as well as the children themselves, with accurate health information, prevention and intervention strategies focused on healthy weight.

Central Michigan University Public Broadcasting and Community Coordinated Child Care (4C), a non-profit referral agency that provides professional development for its member caregivers and Head Start professionals, will produce programming and implement outreach efforts that address “Healthy Weight in Preschool Children.” The partners will work to provide strategies that will potentially result in fewer preschool children becoming overweight or obese.

Other project collaborators include Central Michigan District Health Department; CMU Educational Materials Center, a national creator and distributor of pre-K-12 educational materials; and the CMU Dow College of Health Professions, which is currently involved in research on obesity in school-age children and is part of the Rural Tele-Health Network.

The proposed outcomes for “Healthy Weight in Preschool Children” include 12 television spots for use primarily between PBS Kids programs; theme-based television programs; radio news reports to air as local inserts within “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered;” regional professional development events for 4C’s 2200+ members and Head Start professionals; “Way to Go! Weigh to Grow!” materials, designed to appeal to parents and caregivers, and this “Way to Go! Weigh to Grow!” website.



CMU Public Broadcasting
Linda Dielman
Program/Outreach Manager
Tel: (989) 774-3562
dielm1lk@cmich.edu

Community Coordinated Child Care (4C)
Renee Shaver
Director, Central Michigan 4C
Tel: (989) 463-1422
rshaver@childadv4c.com