Enhance Nutrition Services in Your
State
Title V Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Block Grant
To read more about enhancing nutrition services in your state, click here.
Opportunities for Public Health Nutrition
Positive
nutrition is a cornerstone of health and integral to the wellbeing of the
nation's women and children. Many
opportunities exist to incorporate positive nutrition messages for women, youth
and families during the period of the life course covered by the MCH Block Grant.
The next five-year's needs assessment
will be submitted to MCHB July 2010 and states are beginning to plan their
assessment activities. Now is a
good time to begin discussions with the MCH
Director about how to best incorporate assessments that reflect the
nutritional needs of MCH populations.
Learn more about the MCH Block Grant activities in your state by
talking with your MCH
Director and reading the current grant. Contact information for the State MCH
and Children with Special Health Needs Directors is posted on the Title V
Information System (TVIS) here.
TVIS provides access to all MCH block grant applications/annual reports here. This easy to use tool lets users review
state MCH plans using a
variety of search criteria, including nutrition. Individual State
Snapshots are also available on the TVIS, which presents MCH data and MCHB program information for each
of the 59 States and jurisdictions that receive Title V MCH Block Grant funding.
Review the block grant
activities in your state that support the 18 National Performance and the
10 State Performance Measures
. Many
measures will offer opportunities for collaborative efforts to integrate
new or strengthen current nutrition activities, especially around obesity
and overweight.
Review what MCH funded interventions are currently being
offered to pregnant women with health conditions requiring nutrition
support such as diabetes and for children/youth requiring special
diets. This information will be
useful in initiating additional MCH
nutrition interventions.
Opportunities also exist for
public health nutritionists to assist in infrastructure building efforts.
Review what work is or could be done to positively affect MCH funded systems that influence nutrition
and well-being at the family, community and societal levels.
The resource, Blueprint for Nutrition and Physical
activity: Cornerstones of a Healthy Lifestyle is a good resource to
use when working on your MCH Block Grant.
The Blueprint outlines practical, consumer-focused, state and local
strategies for improving eating and physical activity that will lead to
healthier lives for children, adults, and families. The Blueprint is available here.
In summary,
the Title V MCH Block grant has
long supported efforts to improve the health of the nation's women, children,
including children with special health needs, and families. Nutrition continues to be an essential
discipline with a long history of integration that is still essential to
achieving the goals of the Title V Block Grant.
To read more about enhancing nutrition
services in your state, click here.
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