Participate in the National Public Health Week and Help Raise Healthy Kids
In 1995, President William Jefferson Clinton proclaimed the first full week in April as National Public Health Week (NPHW). During this week, he called on federal, state, and local health agencies to work with private organizations towards building healthier communities and awareness of public health issues around the country.
This year’s NPHW will be held April 3-9, 2006. The focus will be on children and the built environment and the theme is “Designing Healthy Communities: Raising Healthy Kids.” The American Public Health Association (APHA) aims to use NPHW 2006 to improve understanding of the relationship between the built environment and the health and safety of children and to promote solutions to improving children's health.
Currently, across the country, the modern built environment including buildings, roads, sidewalks and neighborhood design is having detrimental effects on the health of children. For example, in many communities, the built environment has virtually eliminated walking or bicycling as a means of transportation. Children who live close enough to school to walk often do not because of the absence of sidewalks in their community. Dependence on automobiles has also contributed to increased pedestrian fatalities and higher rates of childhood asthma due to air pollution. Lack of access to fresh foods has contributed to increasing childhood obesity and disturbing health disparities in underserved communities. In summary, healthy communities for children are on the verge of being engineered out of existence.
Nevertheless, many communities have come to the realization that these environments pose serious health problems and are beginning to partner to create better public transit, bicycle paths and sidewalks, and more parks. These changes, which can occur at various levels of government, by businesses and schools, and by individual citizens serve as models to others who are similarly concerned about improving the health of their children.
Each day during the 2006 NPHW will focus on an aspect of children's health and the built environment:
Monday: Designing Healthy Communities: Raising Healthy Kids
Tuesday: Surrounding Our Kids with Equal Opportunities
Wednesday: Surrounding Our Kids with Physical Activity
Thursday: Surrounding Our Kids with Safety
Friday: Surrounding Our Kids with Clean Air
APHA has created tools to have a successful NPHW within communities. This year’s tools will include a toolkit, fact sheets, press releases, suggested activities and a Community Report Card, which will be a community assessment tool. Some of those tools are now available; others will be made available soon. The goal of the community assessment tool is to begin educating policy makers and the public about the importance the built environment plays in the health of our children. The Community Report Card will include evaluation of the built environment as it relates to the specific children's health issues including access and equity, physical activity, injury prevention, and asthma. A critical piece of each day will be to focus on effective solutions based on case studies from model communities. In addition, the NPHW logo and posters can be downloaded at http://www.apha.org/nphw/2006/pg_tools_posters.htm.
The NPHW website includes additional information on the week, such as how to become a sponsor and/or a partner, how to sign a guestbook to receive NPHW updates as well as how to post your NPHW event on the interactive NPHW calendar.
For additional information, please contact:
American Public Health Association
800 I Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
Phone:(202) 777-2742
Fax: (202) 777-2534
Email: NPHW@apha.org
Source: NHPW website, APHA, 2006.