2023 New York Laws › PBH - Public Health › Article 25 - Maternal and Child Health › Title 8 - Childhood Obesity Prevention Program › 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.