Prevention Matters

A national association's providing obesity training to an entire state's school nurses was named Partnership for Prevention's "Best Prevention Idea of the Week," while a congressman's assertion that community preventive measures don't belong in the health reform bill was named “Worst Prevention Idea of the Week.”

The Best/Worst Idea awards are a regular feature of Prevention Matters, the blog of Partnership for Prevention. Each week, Partnership for Prevention's staff will choose the designees based on nominations of items in the previous week's news submitted by members, staff and the public at large. To submit a nomination or for more information, contact Damon Thompson at dthompson@prevent.org.

BEST

Miss. school nurses to get obesity training

URL=http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20090804/NEWS/90804019/1263/RSS

More than 400 Mississippi school nurses will become the first in the nation to be trained by a national association to fight increasing cases of childhood obesity in the state. The nurses will be trained by the National Association of School Nurses through the School Nurse Childhood Obesity Prevention Education today and Wednesday at the Marriott Hotel. The program provides strategies for school nurses to assist students, families and the school community to promote healthy weight.

http://preventionmatters.blogspot.com/2009/08/gop-lawmakers-question-infrastructure.html

Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., a psychologist and co-chair of both the Mental Health Caucus and the GOP Doctors Caucus, told the Chicago Tribune that the health reform bill must only address how care can be delivered by doctors and hospitals. Murphy said proposals to fund community preventive measures like building sidewalks and bike/jogging trails shouldn’t be part of health reform legislation. He said those proposals belong in a transportation bill.