Today…
The effects of unhealthy children can be seen in both workplace and the local community right now. Students with health and emotional problems cannot concentrate and miss school. Parents can't concentrate at work when their kids are ill or missing school. Also, health problems such as violence and substance abuse affect the whole community through drinking and driving accidents, higher crime rates, and other adverse events.

Tomorrow…
Students with health and/or emotional problems are less likely to be successful in school and to be effectively prepared for the workforce of tomorrow. In addition, unhealthy students will generally grow into unhealthy employees. Workplace health issues such as substance abuse, smoking, and other health behaviors that lead to chronic diseases will continue to be serious problems.

For these and many other reasons, it is important for the business community to get involved. As vital members of the local community, businesses can make a difference by joining the Growing Healthy: Youth, Parents, & Communities Initiative.

Reality Check: The Health of Youth in the 21st Century

America's youth are in trouble. If we don't take action now, this trend will only get worse.

The statistics are daunting. Some seven million young people - one in four adolescents - are extremely vulnerable to multiple high-risk behaviors such as tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use; unprotected sex; suicide; violence; eating disorders; and school failure. Sweeping societal changes over the past two decades are making it harder than ever for children to fulfill their potential and lead happy, healthy lives. Today, one in four children lives with a single parent and one in five lives in poverty. Of the 45 million children who attend school every day, one in five has no health insurance.

American students score no better today on standardized measures of educational achievement than their counterparts did 20 years ago. Despite the fact that the future workforce will require more education, will face more international competition, and will support more retirees than any other generation, an alarming number of teenagers have dropped out of high school.

Across America today, adolescents are confronting pressures to use tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs and to have sex at an earlier age. A startling one-third of them report they have contemplated suicide and many others lack the competence to handle conflict without resorting to violence. For the first time in recorded history, the adolescent population - our future workforce - is less healthy than its parents were at the same age. Unless we act now, the problems afflicting youth - violence, tobacco, alcohol and other drug use, pregnancy, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, depression and suicide, injury, and inadequate physical activity - will increase their chances of future failure.

Our ability to reverse these trends and stem the tide of damage may rest on a largely unrecognized factor: coordinated school health programs (CSHPs). CSHPs foster the capacity of young people to learn by ensuring that they show up at school healthy, properly nourished, safe, and mentally ready to learn. Further, CSHPs provide youth with the knowledge and skills to make the right choices for a healthy, productive life.

To educate local businesses, community organizations, and the general public about the need for CSHPs in an effort to gain support for local coordinated school health initiatives, local health and education organizations joined the Growing Healthy: Youth, Parents, & Communities Initiative. This initiative, managed by the National Center for Health Education, now features an impressive list of supporting groups and individuals nationwide.

A Promising Solution:
Business Support for Coordinated School Health Programming

What if there were one program that could significantly impact the future sustainability and growth of your business? The National Center for Health Education, a 501-c(3) not-for-profit organization established in 1975 by a special Presidential Commission, thinks there is - coordinated school health programs (CSHPs).

CSHPs help children learn by supporting their health, nourishment, safety, and mental readiness to learn. For the first time in recorded history, the adolescent population - our future workforce - is less healthy than its parents were at the same age. If not addressed now, the problems afflicting youth - violence; tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use; teen pregnancy; HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases; depression and suicide; injury; and inadequate physical activity - will hurt tomorrow's workplace.

By supporting CSHPs and encouraging the community to get involved, you can help improve kids' chances of living up to their potential and becoming productive, skilled workers. In schools where CSHPs have been implemented, numerous positive outcomes have been noted such as reduced absenteeism, fewer behavioral problems, more alert students, and more positive attitudes. Your visible involvement in CSHPs will help drive citizen support and strengthen your company's standing in the community.

In the short term, the health and well-being of children is likely to affect your employees' productivity. CSHPs can help reduce the need for parents to leave work to pick up sick schoolchildren, to take children to the doctor, or to stay at home to care for their kids. In addition, parents will experience less stress when their children are healthy and perform better in school.

YOU are a responsible member of the business community who knows the value of community involvement, and we hope you will agree to spend a few minutes on this website to learn more about the importance of CSHPs and how you can contribute to their success.

Businesses, community organizations, and individuals interested in making a difference in the health and future of our children can play an important role in furthering the cause of Growing Healthy: Youth, Parents, & Communities Initiative.

The Growing Healthy: Youth, Parents, & Communities Initiative has made a strong start toward improving the health and education of youth. However, if the above-mentioned statistics are any indication, much work remains to be done to promote a healthy future for our children.

Key Messages About Coordinated School Health Programming

CSHPs can help improve the health and educational achievement of students, which may help prepare a healthy and productive workforce for the future.

CSHPs develop skills such as decision making and problem solving that are important in the workplace.

Workplace health issues such as substance abuse, smoking, poor nutrition, disease, and violence can best be prevented by addressing the development of unhealthy behaviors during childhood and adolescence.

CSHPs are effectively designed to prevent potential health problems such as violence; tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use; teen pregnancy; HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases; depression and suicide; injury; and inadequate physical activity.

CSHPs help young people grow into healthy and productive adults by giving them the resources they need to make healthful decisions in their lives.

Improving the health of children and teens today can reduce spiraling costs of health care in the future and help increase economic productivity.

Parents are better able to work and be productive when their children are healthy and able to stay in school. CSHPs help contribute to lower employee absenteeism, increased productivity, and decreased levels of stress.

CSHPs are generally funded through national and state health grants and not through education funding established for academic subjects (such as math, science, and language skills).

Local businesses and the community can make an important difference in the lives of children and young people by getting involved in the Growing Healthy: Youth, Parents, & Communities Initiative.