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Forward Momentum for Let’s Move! In the Clinic

February 20, 2013 | Community News, Newark

NJPHK-Newark is supporting Newark health care providers as they introduce “Let’s Move! in the Clinic,” a healthy lifestyle toolkit designed to help health care providers talk with patients and families about setting small, achievable nutrition and physical activity goals. Five health care providers have signed on to introduce the toolkit.

On February 20, 13 participants attended the Let’s Move! in the Clinic training, which was sponsored by the New Jersey Pediatric Council on Research and Education (NJPCORE) through the American Academy of Pediatrics,. The training session was lead by Dr. Nwando Anyaoku, NKPHK-Newark co-director and director of General Pediatrics at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center.

The peer-to-peer training provided a discussion forum for physicians and medical staff to learn and share ideas. Participants discussed the importance of education to invoke behavior change, the link between breastfeeding and obesity prevention, and how well visits become opportunities to discuss body mass index and counsel the patient and family on nutrition and physical activity recommendations.

Howard Britt, MD, a pediatric physician, represented the Jewish Renaissance Medical Center (JRMC) in Perth Amboy. JRMC operates five school-based clinics stationed in Newark Public Schools. Designed to offer comprehensive medical and dental care, youth counseling and behavioral health, JRMC public school clinics provide services to the entire surrounding community, local non profit organizations and students. Their school-based programs offer families the convenience of having a health center to call their own.

Participants received educational materials to share with the students at the school based clinics. Each school-based clinic received resources including the Bright Futures Nutrition; 3rd Edition; AAP Pediatric Obesity Clinical Decision Support Chart, and copies of the Rx for Healthy Active Living tool in English and Spanish to support their obesity prevention and intervention efforts.

Mary Jane Linnehan, Nurse Practitioner at Quitman Street School Health Center, plans to incorporate “the nutrition guide tips for birth through 5 year olds and the anticipatory guidance on obesity prevention at each age group” in the center. One new idea Mary learned from the training was about “how encouraging/pushing toddlers to finish their bottle or clean their plate can actually distort their own sense of being full and thus encourage overeating-very interesting”.

NJPCORE has conducted this training at the Newark Health Department with its staff and plans to train three more Newark sites.

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