Healthy Schools Healthy Families
Special Programs
Turn 2 Us Mental Health Prevention Services
Healthy Schools Healthy Families is also dedicated to the promotion of mental health and well-being for the entire school community. Through our Turn 2 Us Mental Health Prevention Services, we have targeted programs for children at high risk for behavioral or psychiatric problems. Children identified in acute crisis are referred to clinical services provided by the Hospital's Department of Pediatric Psychiatry.
A Focus on Obesity: Center for Best PracticesHealthy Schools Healthy Families plays a major role in the Hospital's new Center for Best Practices in Childhood Obesity. The childhood overweight/obesity rate in the communities served by Healthy Schools Healthy Families is over 40 percent.
Chosen by the New York State Department of Health, Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital is one of three State Centers for Best Practices in Childhood Obesity Prevention. A five-year $1.3 million state grant is funding efforts to identify and implement effective ways to reduce the number of obese and overweight school-aged children in the northern Manhattan community, as well as statewide.
Nationally, more than 15 percent of children are overweight, and the childhood obesity rate has nearly tripled since 1970. The number of obese and overweight children in medically underserved urban environments is even greater, including close to half of all school-aged children in Washington Heights.
The Center for Best Practices, which focuses on school-aged children, ages 5 to 12, involves close collaboration with local community organizations, building upon ongoing programs and developing new interventions for children to serve as models across the state.
"Partnering with community groups, schools, pediatric providers, legislative leaders and others is essential to the success of this effort. Only by building a broad-based coalition can we hope to encourage the kind of enthusiasm and momentum to make the changes necessary for improving the health of our children," says Dr. Patricia Hametz, Director and Principal Investigator of the program.
Contact
- Healthy Schools Healthy Families
- (212) 342-0713
