§ 2599-b. Program development. 1. The program shall be designed to
prevent and reduce the incidence and prevalence of obesity in children
and adolescents, especially among populations with high rates of obesity
and obesity-related health complications including, but not limited to,
diabetes, heart disease, cancer, osteoarthritis, asthma, emphysema,
chronic bronchitis, other chronic respiratory diseases and other
conditions. The program shall use recommendations and goals of the
United States departments of agriculture and health and human services,
the surgeon general and centers for disease control and prevention in
developing and implementing guidelines for nutrition education and
physical activity projects as part of obesity prevention efforts. The
content and implementation of the program shall stress the benefits of
choosing a balanced, healthful diet from the many options available to
consumers, without specifically targeting the elimination of any
particular food group, food product or food-related industry.

2. The childhood obesity prevention program shall include, but not be
limited to:

(a) developing media health promotion campaigns targeted to children
and adolescents and their parents and caregivers that emphasize
increasing consumption of low-calorie, high-nutrient foods, decreasing
consumption of high-calorie, low-nutrient foods and increasing physical
activity designed to prevent or reduce obesity;

(b) establishing school-based childhood obesity prevention nutrition
education and physical activity programs including programs described in
section twenty-five hundred ninety-nine-c of this article, as well as
other programs with linkages to physical and health education courses,
and which utilize the school health index of the National Center for
Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion or other recognized
school health assessments pursuant, but not limited, to article nineteen
of the education law;

(c) establishing community-based childhood obesity prevention
nutrition education and physical activity programs including programs
which involve parents and caregivers, and which encourage communities,
families, child care and other settings to provide safe and adequate
space and time for physical activity and encourage a healthy diet, and
can be in coordination with county cooperative extension programs
established pursuant to section two hundred twenty-four-b of the county
law;

(d) coordinating with the state education department, department of
agriculture and markets, office of parks, recreation and historic
preservation, office of temporary and disability assistance, office of
children and family services and other federal, state and local agencies
to incorporate strategies to prevent and reduce childhood obesity into
government food assistance, health, education and recreation programs;

(e) sponsoring periodic conferences or meetings to bring together
experts in nutrition, exercise, public health, mental health, education,
parenting, media, food marketing, food security, agriculture, community
planning and other disciplines to examine societal-based solutions to
the problem of childhood obesity and issue guidelines and
recommendations for New York state policy and programs;

(f) developing training programs for medical and other health
professionals to teach practical skills in nutrition and exercise
education to children and their parents and caregivers;

(g) developing screening programs in coordination with health care
providers and institutions including but not limited to day care centers
and schools for overweight and obesity for children aged two through
eighteen years, using body mass index (BMI) appropriate for age and
gender, and notification, in a manner protecting the confidentiality of
such children and their families, of parents of BMI status, and
explanation of the consequences of such status, including recommended
actions parents may need to take and information about resources and
referrals available to families to enhance nutrition and physical
activity to reduce and prevent obesity; and

(h) coordinating with the education department, office of temporary
and disability assistance, office of children and family services and
other federal, state and local agencies to incorporate strategies to
curtail the incidence of asthma, chronic bronchitis and other chronic
respiratory diseases to enable adults and children to safely increase
physical activity.

3. The department, in cooperation with the education department, shall
periodically collect and analyze information from schools, health and
nutrition programs and other sources to determine the prevalence of
childhood obesity in New York state, and to evaluate, to the extent
possible, the effectiveness of the childhood obesity prevention program.