Helping Parents Learn to Feed Their Children Well
by Carol Danaher, Public Health Nutritionist and Director of the Early Childhood Feeding Practices Collaborative Feeding Practices Collaborative
Last November, a two year-old girl was admitted to the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center Emergency Room with severe anemia. The child was a very picky eater who refused all food except ice cream, candy, and a half gallon of milk each day. This anemic girl was also overweight. Unfortunately the child was never properly transitioned into solid foods and was still relying on a milk-based diet. The physician called the Childhood Feeding Collaborative knowing that they could help this little girl.
The Santa Clara County Public Health Department’s Childhood Feeding Collaborative addresses the problem of obesity and poor eating among young children by providing parents with feeding guidance from a trained pediatrician, free parenting classes and referrals to the Pediatric Healthy Lifestyle Center.
Follow-up shows that families have improved their parenting on feeding issues and pediatricians feel more confident when talking to parents about this issue.
Last year, with grant funds from FIRST 5 Santa Clara County, The Health Trust, and Kaiser Permanente San Jose and Santa Clara, more than 500 parents attended parenting classes on how to feed their children and more than 1,300 parents received the same best-practice feeding guidance from their trained Pediatrician.
Collaborative partners in 2009 include Santa Clara Valley Health Centers, Valley Health Plan, Santa Clara Family Health Plan, Community Health Partnership Clinics, Choices for Children, FIRST 5 Santa Clara County Parent Workshop Providers, and Santa Clara County Public Health Department WIC Program.
For more information, please contact
carol.danaher@hhs.sccgov.org
Last November, a two year-old girl was admitted to the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center Emergency Room with severe anemia. The child was a very picky eater who refused all food except ice cream, candy, and a half gallon of milk each day. This anemic girl was also overweight. Unfortunately the child was never properly transitioned into solid foods and was still relying on a milk-based diet. The physician called the Childhood Feeding Collaborative knowing that they could help this little girl.
The Santa Clara County Public Health Department’s Childhood Feeding Collaborative addresses the problem of obesity and poor eating among young children by providing parents with feeding guidance from a trained pediatrician, free parenting classes and referrals to the Pediatric Healthy Lifestyle Center.
Follow-up shows that families have improved their parenting on feeding issues and pediatricians feel more confident when talking to parents about this issue.
Last year, with grant funds from FIRST 5 Santa Clara County, The Health Trust, and Kaiser Permanente San Jose and Santa Clara, more than 500 parents attended parenting classes on how to feed their children and more than 1,300 parents received the same best-practice feeding guidance from their trained Pediatrician.
Collaborative partners in 2009 include Santa Clara Valley Health Centers, Valley Health Plan, Santa Clara Family Health Plan, Community Health Partnership Clinics, Choices for Children, FIRST 5 Santa Clara County Parent Workshop Providers, and Santa Clara County Public Health Department WIC Program.
For more information, please contact
carol.danaher@hhs.sccgov.org