TIPP
Targeting Impact through Public Policy This Issue Ohio Renter Protection Act
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Anti Discrimination Bill
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School Wellness Bill Moving Forward Senate Bill 210 and House Bill 373, known as Healthy Choices for Healthy Children, is bipartisan legislation that takes a comprehensive approach to addressing childhood obesity by focusing on three key areas:
Early Childcare and Advocacy Committee
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Faces in Public Policy
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Earned Income Tax Credit
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1. Access to nutritious foods and beverages in school settings;
Land Bank Legislation
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Re-entry Workshop
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2. Inclusion of physical activity in the daily school routine; and
On Our Agenda Promoting school wellness policies is a Tier 2 issue on United Way of Central Ohio’s Public Policy Agenda. This means that we work with community partners to address childhood obesity.
UNITED WAY LEADERS VISIT MEMBERS OF CONGRESS More than 1,000 staff and volunteers from across the country visited Capitol Hill on March 18 and met with Members of Congress about federal support of 2-1-1, child nutrition issues, and the VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) program. Nine staff from UWCO met with Ohio Members of Congress while in Washington DC for the Mobilize for Impact Conference.
SPRING, 2010
3. Body Mass Index (BMI) screenings. Senate Bill 210 is co-sponsored by Senators Kevin Coughlin (R-Cuyahoga Falls) and Eric Kearney (D-Cincinnati), and House Bill 373 is co-sponsored by Representatives John Patrick Carney (D-Columbus) and Lynn Wachtmann (R-Napoleon). Healthy Choices for Healthy Children legislation compliments our goal to increase the number of people who achieve a healthy weight. Children who are obese when they are 10 years old have an 80 percent chance of becoming obese adults with multiple chronic illnesses that will cost billions of dollars in health care.
How you can help • Call or email your Senator and Representative and encourage them to pass Senate Bill 210 and House Bill 373. For help identifying your legislators visit www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials. • Visit www.healthychoiceshealthychildren.org and join the Healthy Choices for Healthy Children Coalition, an alliance of more than 75 human service groups, hospitals, and businesses dedicated to preventing and decreasing childhood obesity in Ohio. The school setting is where children spend much of their time. It is where they learn physical activity habits and have access to food items outside of their family’s influence. UWCO supports SB 210/ HB 373. It is an excellent way to address Ohio’s alarming childhood obesity problem.
CHILDHOOD OBESITY FACTS • More than 1 in 3 children (ages 10 to 17) in Ohio are overweight or obese. • Obese children are more than four times more likely to have diabetes, and two times more likely to have been hospitalized twice or more in the past year. • By 2018, obesity rates in Ohio will surpass 50%, with health care costs exceeding $16 billion for the state. Source: Healthy Choices for Healthy Children, www.healthychoiceshealthychildren.org