Blue Cross of California Launches BMI Training and Promotion Program to Make Childhood Obesity Screening a Statewide Standard
Posted on: Wednesday, 21 June 2006, 12:00 CDT
LOS ANGELES, June 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Cross of California (BCC) has kicked off "Taking Measures for Their Future" -- a statewide Body Mass Index (BMI) training and promotion program for clinical staff (registered nurses, licensed vocational nurses, and medical assistants) throughout California -- as part of its $9 million, three-year statewide initiative to address the childhood obesity epidemic. The new program will reach more than 9,000 pediatric and family practices and train clinical staff to calculate and record BMI -- a widely-used measurement to screen for overweight and obesity. The hands-on workshops will also highlight the role of clinical staff in the fight against childhood obesity and promote obesity screening as a routine practice in well child visits across the state.
"Training thousands of clinical staff on how to identify children at risk for overweight and obesity early is a vital step in the fight against childhood obesity, which is a growing health epidemic in our state," said John Monahan, President, Blue Cross State Sponsored Business. "Clinicians have critical and to some extent 'guaranteed' interaction with parents regarding their child's health and well-being. Providing the training and resources needed to build obesity screening into regular pediatric care will help foster a medical community more equipped to empower California families and help children lead healthier lives."
According to the California Health & Human Services Agency, approximately one in three children in California are overweight or at risk of overweight, and almost 40 percent of school-aged children are unfit. A study in the American Academy of Pediatrics reported that up to 80 percent of obese youth continue to be obese into adulthood. Obesity is associated with serious health problems such as type 2 diabetes and hypertension, and is a leading cause of preventable death.
As one of the state's largest private health plans, BCC is committed to addressing the childhood obesity epidemic through a three-pronged initiative to reach physicians, members and the community-at-large. In addition to the BMI program, BCC has developed and distributed a Childhood Obesity Physician Toolkit to the 12,000 pediatric and family practice physicians in its network, which provides information to help physicians engage families in dialogue about their child's weight, nutrition and physical activity, and offers an online Childhood Obesity Continuing Medical Education (CME) Course developed in partnership with the CMA foundation and designed to screen, identify, and manage at risk and overweight pediatric patients.
BCC provides resources for families and communities to improve nutrition and physical activity including: The Kids in Charge of Kalories (KICK) Disease Management Program, which provides telephone support and online and print resources to member families; the free online "Get UP and Get Moving!" workbook, which provides information on healthy habits in multiple languages; and the distribution of educational childhood obesity videos to more than 26,000 PTA chapters nationwide in partnership with Parents' Action for Children.
BCC also provides support for programs and organizations working to combat obesity such as the American Heart Association (AHA) "Jump Rope for Heart Program" and the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund. BCC is a proud member of the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, and was placed on Governor Schwarzenegger's "Summit on Health, Nutrition and Obesity Honor Roll" last fall for its commitment to fighting obesity in California.
For more information about Blue Cross of California and its childhood obesity initiative, please call 1-866-638-1865.
Blue Cross of California is one of the state's largest health plan and together with its California affiliates, the company serves more than 7.6 million medical members. Headquartered in Southern California, Blue Cross of California offers a flexible product portfolio with a broad range of options for small, medium and large groups, as well as individual plans for people without access to group coverage, seniors and consumers who are eligible for state sponsored programs. Blue Cross of California is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Association and can be found on the web at http://www.bluecrossca.com/.
Blue Cross of California
CONTACT: Maggie Bava, +1-310-552-4180, mbava@rogerspr.com, or BriannePins, +1-310-552-4149, bpins@rogerspr.com, both for Blue Cross of California
Web site: http://www.bluecrossca.com/
Source: PRNewswire
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