About Us

Communities for Healthy Kids is a multi-sector regional initiative created with a purpose to align and support existing partnerships in an effort to reduce childhood obesity in California’s Central Valley through education, advocacy, and the coordinated implementation of identified strategies.

Communities for Healthy Kids is facilitated by Valley Children’s Healthcare.

Goals

• Increase access to and consumption of healthy foods.
• Increase access to and consumption of clean drinking water.
• Increase opportunities for and participation in physical activity.

Overarching Strategies

Guiding Principles

• Multi-sector leadership and collaboration: We are committed to working across multiple organizations and sectors to coordinate and align our efforts. We will engage key decision-makers in this work, including policymakers.
• Policy, Systems and Environmental changes: We will identify strategies that are grounded in sustainable, comprehensive policy, systems and environmental changes.
• Health Equity: We will work to ensure that strategies are aimed to support the health and wellness of all communities in our region.
• Evidence-based approach: We are committed to identifying evidence-based, promising strategies and best practices.
• Community engagement and development: We aim to foster the agency of communities as a way of improving health.

The Region

The Central Valley region extends from Sacramento County in the north to Kern County in the south. Stretching for over 400 miles down the middle of the state, California’s Central Valley is the most agriculturally-rich area of the nation and is home to 1.3 million children.

Milestones