CATCH: From Research to Practice

The CATCH Program will be featured in the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) sponsored Public Health Webinar series “Grand Rounds” on June 15th from 2-3pm EST.

Overview

CDC is changing to meet the challenges of public health in the 21 st century. To address the shifting landscape of public health, the CDC is concentrating on improving the health of individuals through a holistic approach instead of focusing on specific diseases. CDC is using a “life stage approach” to focus its efforts on achieving the highest health status for people in the United States . People have different health needs and perceptions as they progress through life.

To achieve true improvements in people's lives by accelerating health impact and reducing health disparities, CDC has established four Health Protection Goals focusing on healthy people, healthy places, preparedness, and global health. CDC's Healthy People goals encompass the unique health issues and risk behaviors that affect the quality of health in every stage of life. This Public Health Grand Rounds event will focus on Healthy People and the importance of establishing healthy behaviors during childhood instead of trying to change unhealthy behaviors during adulthood. Evolving CDC Health Protection Goals for Children (4-11) and Adolescents (12–19) will include major research initiatives and interventions to prevent and reduce unhealthy behaviors that cause and exacerbate chronic diseases.

Conditions that lead to chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, can result from behaviors established during childhood, adolescence, or even gestation. Risk factors (biological and behavioral) can start early in life and risk levels generally progress throughout adulthood. Recent studies of children, adolescents, and young adults (less than 35 years) have demonstrated the close link of blood cholesterol level, blood pressure level, smoking, and obesity with the extent and severity of atherosclerosis among people well below 20 years of age. Promoting excellent cardiovascular health encompasses interventions aimed at individuals at any age, including those whose lifestyles and behavior choices may create a greater risk for cardiovascular disease.

Schools and communities, in particular, have a critical role to play in promoting the health and safety of young people and helping them establish lifelong healthy behavior patterns.

CDC promotes the Coordinated School Health Program Model (CSHP) to aid schools and communities in preventing and reducing chronic diseases. A CSHP consists of eight interactive components, which can help schools create programs that help students establish healthy habits.

Researchers designed and tested a school health program called Coordinated Approach To Child Health (CATCH) to help children improve their diet and increase their amounts of physical activity. CATCH, which now reaches more than a million children in more than 2,000 schools in Texas , started as a clinical trial and is currently an effective public health intervention program.

In 2001, the Texas state legislature passed a bill authorizing the state Board of Education to require all school systems in Texas to provide 30 minutes per day of school-based physical activity and to implement a coordinated school health curriculum. The Texas Education Agency approved CATCH for this purpose. Researchers have updated CATCH materials and produced a new diabetes education workbook for elementary school children. Work with schools and community partners continues to further the adoption of CATCH in Maine , Illinois , California , Montana , North Dakota , and North Carolina , among others.

Public Health Grand Rounds Goal

This program will seek to increase knowledge and awareness of how the CATCH program gives schools and communities the tools they need to help children improve their diet and increase the amount of physical activity they engage in. By addressing chronic disease risk factors at a young age, we can begin to prevent and reduce the chronic disease burden in the U.S.

Public Health Grand Rounds Objectives

1. State at least three reasons why it is important to implement evidence-based public health interventions designed to promote healthy lifestyle habits in a person's early years.,
2. Describe the Coordinated Approach To Child Health (CATCH) Program and how it has been implemented and disseminated in several school districts in Travis County and an organization that serves youth ( Austin Independent School District and Del Valle Independent School Distritct, Austin , Texas ; and the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) clubs, Rochester , New York ).

1. Describe how federal, state, and local health and education agencies, legislators, universities, and community-based organizations can work together to improve health outcomes and leverage resources to implement successful and proven interventions.
2. Describe how a coordinated school health program (CSHP) can improve health outcomes, specifically cardiovascular health, across the life stages.

Audience

Public health leaders; managers and professionals from local and state health departments, hospitals, community-based health organizations, boards of health, private physician practices, federal agencies, and academic institutions; and others who are concerned about preventing and reducing chronic disease across the life stages.

Faculty

Edward L. Baker, MD, MPH

Director, NC Institute for Public Health

UNC School of Public Health

Stephanie B. Coursey Bailey, MD, MSHSA

Chief of Public Health Practice

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Darwin Labarthe, MD

Director, Division of Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Steven Kelder, MPH, PhD

Professor of Epidemiology

University of Texas Health Science Center and Houston School of Public Health

Eduardo Sanchez, MD, MPH

Director, Institute for Health Policy

University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston

Kristen Rusho, MS

CATCH Program Director

YMCA of Greater Rochester

Registration

To register, visit www.PublicHealthGrandRounds.unc.edu . Registration for this program will only be available online. If you do not have Internet access, please seek assistance from a public resource such as a library.

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