Moving the needle on health inequities: principles and tactics for effective cross-sector population health networks.

Purpose Of Review: To summarize elements of cross-sector population health networks to support systems and policy change to achieve equitable access to health services and healthy development opportunities for young children and families, allowing everyone to have a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible.

Recent Findings: The principles and tactics of Equity and Inclusion, Readiness, Joint Planning, Governance, and Data can guide cross-sector networks in effectively supporting communities in addressing health inequities. These principles are not linear or siloed, but rather, they overlap and reinforce each other.

Multisector Approach to Improve Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Policies and Practices in Early Care and Education Programs: The National Early Care and Education Learning Collaboratives Project, 2013-2017.

Purpose And Objectives: Embedding healthy eating and physical activity best practices in early care and education settings is important for instilling healthy behaviors early in life. A collaborative partnership between Nemours Children's Health System and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was created to implement the National Early Care and Education Learning Collaboratives Project (ECELC) in childcare settings in 10 states. We measured improvement at the program level by the self-reported number of best practices implemented related to healthy eating and physical activity.

Accelerating efforts to prevent childhood obesity: spreading, scaling, and sustaining healthy eating and physical activity.

During the past decade, progress has been made in addressing childhood obesity through policy and practice changes that encourage increased physical activity and access to healthy food. With the implementation of these strategies, an understanding of what works to prevent childhood obesity is beginning to emerge. The task now is to consider how best to spread, scale, and sustain promising childhood obesity prevention strategies.

Obesity prevention in the early care and education setting: successful initiatives across a spectrum of opportunities.

With an estimated 12.1% of children aged 2-5 years already obese, prevention efforts must target our youngest children. One of the best places to reach young children for such efforts is the early care and education setting (ECE).

A statewide strategy to battle child obesity in Delaware.

In 2006, approximately 37 percent of Delaware's children were overweight or obese. To combat Delaware's childhood obesity epidemic, Nemours, a leading child health care provider, launched a statewide program to improve child health. The "social-ecological" strategy reaches beyond clinical encounters to promote better health and behavior at multiple levels.