Safeguarding the health and wellness of Colorado’s kids is important to building strong communities. To grow up healthy, kids must build healthy habits from a young age – including engaging in regular physical activity and eating nutritious foods – and have access to reliable, quality health care.

Where Colorado Stands:

Colorado is widely recognized as one of the healthiest states in the nation, but there are numerous troubling trends for Colorado kids. Although Colorado was ranked as the state with the second lowest rate of child obesity or overweight in the nation in 2003, our state’s ranking dropped to 10th by 2007. According to the National Survey of Children’s Health, Colorado’s rate of childhood obesity and overweight has increased second fastest in the nation, behind Nevada. While perhaps not intuitively connected, hunger and obesity are in fact closely linked, so it is not surprising that while we see a significant increase in obesity, we also see a significant growth in the number of children living in food insecure households. In fact, the number of children living in households that were food insecure at some point during the year grew by 61 percent from 2001-03 to 2006-08. If there is any positive news in the area of child health, it is that we are making progress in reducing the number of uninsured kids in our state. The percentage of uninsured children in the state dropped from 13.8 percent in 2008 to 10.2 percent in 2009. However, Colorado’s rate of uninsured children is still above the national average.

What the Children's Campaign is Doing:

With the support of the Children’s Campaign, meaningful policy has been passed at the federal and state levels over the last few years to lay the foundation for a healthier future for Colorado’s children. Our priority now is to make sure those polices are implemented appropriately and to build upon them to ensure all Colorado children have health coverage and the opportunity to grow up healthy and strong with support at home, at school, and in the community. The Colorado Children’s Campaign is focused on the following key policy priorities:

• Expanding Health Care Coverage
• Ending Childhood Hunger & Obesity
• Integrating Health in Places Children Live, Study and Play

Moving Forward

Meaningful policy has been passed at the federal and state levels over the last few years to create a healthier future for Colorado’s children. Our priority now is to ensure the appropriate implementation of those policies and to build upon them to ensure all Colorado children have health coverage and the opportunity to grow up healthy and strong with support at home, at school, and in the community.

Investing in Kids

A state budget that reflects our state’s concern and prioritization of child health is paramount to achieving our goals. Therefore, the Children’s Campaign actively advocates to protect funding for the health services and programs we believe are most essential to kids, including:

• Medicaid and CHP+, safety net programs that provide health coverage to thousands of Colorado.
• Safety net and school based health centers that provide primary care services for children and families regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay.
• Comprehensive Health Education Act which is used for student wellness programs and comprehensive health education.

Health Publications:

• Healthy Moms, Healthy Kids: A Series on Maternal and Child Health in Colorado - Domestic Violence (April 14, 2011)
• Healthy Moms, Healthy Kids: A Series on Maternal and Child Health in Colorado - Maternal Depression (April 14, 2011)
• Healthy Moms, Healthy Kids: A Series on Maternal and Child Health in Colorado - Healthy Pregnancies (April 14, 2011)
• Healthy Moms, Healthy Kids: A Series on Maternal and Child Health in Colorado - Family Structure and Unintended Teen Pregnancy (April 14, 2011)
• Healthy Moms, Healthy Kids: A Series on Maternal and Child Health in Colorado - Social Determinants of Health (April 14, 2011)
• Healthy Moms, Healthy Kids: A Series on Maternal and Child Health in Colorado - Nutrition (April 14, 2011)
• 2011 Lunch and Learn Presentation, "Ensuring Acess to Care and Coverage," (February 23, 2011)
• 2011 Lunch and Learn Presentation, "Child Health: Tackling Obesity Through Healthy Eating and Active Living," (February 9, 2011)
• School Wellness in Colorado: Findings from a Survey of Large School Districts (September 2010)
• Food for Thought, Health for Success: Pursuing Policy that Supports Student Wellness and Achievement (February 2009)
• Facts on Kids Health: A Primer (2009)
• Child Obesity in Colorado: A Growing Problem (July 2007)

Want to Learn More?

For more information on child health in Colorado, please contact the Children’s Campaign’s Vice President of Health Initiatives, Cody Belzley, at cody@coloradokids.org or (303) 839-1580.