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March 2021

Giving Children and Adolescents a Healthy Start Through Nutrition

By LT Dennis Anderson-Villaluz, MBA, RD, LDN, FAND, nutrition advisor, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Establishing healthy dietary patterns early in life can provide young Americans with the foundation to continue those behaviors throughout later life stages. Unhealthy dietary patterns and inadequate physical activity in children and adolescents ages 2 to 18 contribute to overweight and obesity — as well as increasing the risk of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease later in life...

Columbus Partners Up for Local Move Your Way® Campaign

In 2020, ODPHP worked with 8 pilot communities to implement the Move Your Way® campaign on the local level, using the Move Your Way Community Playbook. Due to COVID-19, pilot communities adapted their campaigns to help people stay safe while getting active. This blog post series highlights local events and initiatives from the community pilot program — including creative ways to promote physical activity during social distancing...

Keeping up with Routine Care and Preventive Services Safely During COVID-19

MyHealthfinder - Make a plan to stay on top of your health care this year!

At ODPHP, we encourage patients to use MyHealthfinder to learn about the preventive services they need to stay healthy. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected almost every part of our lives — and health care is no exception. In the past year, many people may have put off routine health care and preventive services like screenings and vaccines because they’re worried about getting COVID-19...

Make Every Bite Count, Even Little Bites!

Image displays six different scenarios where a healthier food choice can be made. Choose cereal with minimal added sugars over cereal with added sugars. Choose Fruit, for example, canned in 100% juice instead of fruit products with added sugars. Choose roasted vegetables instead of fried vegetables. Select vegetables instead of high-sodium snacks. Eat ground lean meats instead of high-sodium meats. Choose unsweetened beverages over beverages with added sugars.

By Janet M. de Jesus, MS, RD, Nutition Advisor, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion The period from birth until a child’s second birthday is a critically important time for growth and development. Nutrition during this early stage of life not only affects the health of the growing child, but may continue to affect their health through adulthood...