Diane Bales

Program note: Expanding healthy housing and environmental awareness in rural communities through local and national partnerships

ABSTRACT Healthy homes are an important contributor to individual and family health. Sharing healthy home information with individuals in rural communities can be challenging because of limited resources and transportation challenges. One effective way to increase consumer awareness of healthy homes, especially in rural areas, is through collaboration. The national Healthy Homes Partnership (HHP) is a 15-year-old public outreach education program that addresses housing deficiencies and risks associated with poor indoor air quality. Between September 2014 and November 2015, HHP had 9,617 direct and 2,000,838 indirect educational contacts. State partners created advisory coalitions to bring together organizations with the common goals of reducing housing hazards and improving health. This paper highlights the efforts of the Healthy Homes Partnership, including examples of effective outreach from multiple states. Healthy housing efforts have demonstrated that local outreach along with online information can be an effective strategy to reach rural residents. In this program note, the authors explore the benefits and challenges associated with a holistic approach to bridging health and housing knowledge gaps in rural communities.

Engaging Families in the Fight against the Overweight Epidemic among Children

Engaging families in the fight against the overweight epidemic among children. Subject: Obesity in children (Prevention) Children (Food and nutrition) Authors: Coleman, Mick Wallinga, Charlotte Bales, Diane Pub Date: 03/22/2010 Publication: Name: Childhood Education Publisher: Association for Childhood Education International Audience: Academic; Professional Format: Magazine/Journal Subject: Education; Family and marriage Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2010 Association for Childhood Education International ISSN: 0009-4056 Issue: Date: Spring, 2010 Source Volume: 86 Source Issue: 3 Product: Product Code: E121920 Children Geographic: Geographic Scope: United States Geographic Code: 1USA United States Accession Number: 220467974 Full Text:

Health and Safety in the Early Childhood Classroom: Guidelines for Curriculum Development

great deal of attention has been given to childhood health and safety over the past decade, and for good reason. Rates of childhood overweight are on the rise (Krebs et al., 2003) and childhood injuries remain unacceptably high (National Safe Kids Campaign, 2003). In response to these and other threats, different groups and government agencies in the United States have taken steps to advance a healthier and safer environment for young children. Some of these steps include creating an index for tracking childhood well-being (Foundation for Child Development, 2004), conducting a nationwide longitudinal study to better understand the threats to childhood health and well-being (National Children’s Study, 2004), and establishing national health objectives to promote a healthier society (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2000a). In addition, medical organizations have issued recommendations aimed at controlling specific health threats, such as those associated with overconsumption of soft drinks (Taras et al., 2004) and obesity (Krebs et al., 2003). Early childhood teachers have a variety of health and safety resources to draw upon, including information about and educational programs dealing with such issues as fire safety (Cole, Crandall, & Kourofsky, 2004), obesity (Huettig, Sanborn, DiMarco, Popejoy, & Rich, 2004), and dental hygiene (Alkon & Boyer-Chu, 2004). In addition, early childhood teachers can take advantage of Internet resources and fact sheets provided by such organizations as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2004) and the National Safe Kids Campaign (2004a). On the other hand, teachers may face a number of challenges when attempting to incorporate health and safety resources into the curriculum. In some cases, the resources may not be age-appropriate or may not meet the needs and interests of children in a particular classroom. Other teachers may believe they lack the time or background knowledge to properly understand or implement activities aimed at promoting health and safety practices among young children. Consequently, teachers need guidelines to help them select and develop health and safety educational activities for their classrooms. This article will share three guidelines-defining health and safety concepts, establishing a rationale for a health and safety curriculum, and identifying theoretical perspectives to guide a health and safety curriculum-that the authors followed in developing and implementing a preschool health and safety curriculum that has been used by early childhood trainers and teachers across three states in the southeastern United States (Bales, Coleman, & Wallinga, 2004). Teachers ne d