Head Start Can Make Entire Families Healthier

Teaching a Culture of Wellness in Classrooms Keeps Kids and Their Parents Out of Emergency Rooms

Head Start is already great at helping kids succeed in life. Now it’s working at helping families become healthier too.

The National Center for Early Childhood Health and Wellness has recognized how important it is to engage and educate entire families in their own health. Improving health literacy means helping parents become better health decision-makers for their children. I’ve seen this firsthand working with Head Start agencies across the nation as the research director of the UCLA Health Care Institute.

The UCLA Health Care Institute, founded in 2001, has developed …