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The following five community resources that I found are very important because they provide services to families in the city of Chicago to help them fight childhood obesity. I picked some organizations in the Humboldt Park community because they are going to be more convenient for the child and the family that I am focusing on for this project. As I mentioned in the child profile, “L” is a child who is suffering from child obesity. I think the following resources are going to help him and his family overcome this health problem. As early childhood educators we can help parents change their eating habits and improve their health by referring them to professionals who know how to educate them to better their life.
The first community resource that I found is the Erie Family Health Center
Manager, Community Programs located at 2750 W. North Ave., Chicago IL, 60647. This resource is important because they have a program called “La Vida Sana La Vida Feliz (Healthy life, happy life)”. This program is federally funded to prevent obesity and intervene in the Humboldt Park community. At the moment this program serves 63,000 residents. In this program the families will learn new skills to prevent and target obesity. These include self-management associated with nutrition, physical activity, and healthy weight. They reinforce these skills through nutrition counseling and fitness programs. They help the families to gain access to healthy foods and motivate them to stay active. For help regarding obesity the families can call 312- 432-7499 for assistance. I think this resource could help “L” and his family very much to solve the obesity problem.
The second community resource is “Near North Health Service Corporation,” located at 1...

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...m provides services to diverse children; they focus on children ages 7-13 years old and their parents/caregivers. The children and their families have the opportunity to participate in the MEND for ages 7-13 to prevent obesity, manage weight, to modify eating and physical activity, and to reduce obesity among young children (MEND, 2014). The program is for ten weeks and is a 21-month innovation maintenance strategy. Their goal is to encourage healthy lifestyles and healthy habits. The families meet twice a week to learn about nutrition, food labels, food shopping and physical activity. They talk about food portion sizes, and teach families that food can be healthy but eating too much of the same thing is bad. The families need to qualify for the program. The children need to have a BMI above 26 % and pass a medical exam to ensure they qualify for the program.

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