N.Y. Public Health Law § 2599-b: Program development

§ 2599-b. Program development. 1. The program shall be designed to

prevent and reduce the incidence and prevalence of obesity in children

and adolescents, especially among populations with high rates of obesity

and obesity-related health complications including, but not limited to,

diabetes, heart disease, cancer, osteoarthritis, asthma, emphysema,

chronic bronchitis, other chronic respiratory diseases and other

conditions. The program shall use recommendations and goals of the

United States departments of agriculture and health and human services,

the surgeon general and centers for disease control and prevention in

developing and implementing guidelines for nutrition education and

physical activity projects as part of obesity prevention efforts. The

content and implementation of the program shall stress the benefits of

choosing a balanced, healthful diet from the many options available to

consumers, without specifically targeting the elimination of any

particular food group, food product or food-related industry.

2. The childhood obesity prevention program shall include, but not be

limited to:

(a) developing media health promotion campaigns targeted to children

and adolescents and their parents and caregivers that emphasize

increasing consumption of low-calorie, high-nutrient foods, decreasing

consumption of high-calorie, low-nutrient foods and increasing physical

activity designed to prevent or reduce obesity;

(b) establishing school-based childhood obesity prevention nutrition

education and physical activity programs including programs described in

section twenty-five hundred ninety-nine-c of this article, as well as

other programs with linkages to physical and health education courses,

and which utilize the school health index of the National Center for

Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion or other recognized

school health assessments pursuant, but not limited, to article nineteen

of the education law;

(c) establishing community-based childhood obesity prevention

nutrition education and physical activity programs including programs

which involve parents and caregivers, and which encourage communities,

families, child care and other settings to provide safe and adequate

space and time for physical activity and encourage a healthy diet, and

can be in coordination with county cooperative extension programs

established pursuant to section two hundred twenty-four-b of the county

law;

(d) coordinating with the state education department, department of

agriculture and markets, office of parks, recreation and historic

preservation, office of temporary and disability assistance, office of

children and family services and other federal, state and local agencies

to incorporate strategies to prevent and reduce childhood obesity into

government food assistance, health, education and recreation programs;

(e) sponsoring periodic conferences or meetings to bring together

experts in nutrition, exercise, public health, mental health, education,

parenting, media, food marketing, food security, agriculture, community

planning and other disciplines to examine societal-based solutions to

the problem of childhood obesity and issue guidelines and

recommendations for New York state policy and programs;

(f) developing training programs for medical and other health

professionals to teach practical skills in nutrition and exercise

education to children and their parents and caregivers;

(g) developing screening programs in coordination with health care

providers and institutions including but not limited to day care centers

and schools for overweight and obesity for children aged two through

eighteen years, using body mass index (BMI) appropriate for age and

gender, and notification, in a manner protecting the confidentiality of

such children and their families, of parents of BMI status, and

explanation of the consequences of such status, including recommended

actions parents may need to take and information about resources and

referrals available to families to enhance nutrition and physical

activity to reduce and prevent obesity; and

(h) coordinating with the education department, office of temporary

and disability assistance, office of children and family services and

other federal, state and local agencies to incorporate strategies to

curtail the incidence of asthma, chronic bronchitis and other chronic

respiratory diseases to enable adults and children to safely increase

physical activity.

3. The department, in cooperation with the education department, shall

periodically collect and analyze information from schools, health and

nutrition programs and other sources to determine the prevalence of

childhood obesity in New York state, and to evaluate, to the extent

possible, the effectiveness of the childhood obesity prevention program.