Growing Up Healthy: Kids and Communities

Place and health are linked. The environments and conditions in which we are born, live, learn, work and play have a life-long impact on our health. For young children to be their healthiest, they need high quality early care and learning, and safe, healthy homes and neighborhoods.

Research increasingly shows that social, economic and environmental determinants of health are every bit as important for long-term health as genes, access to medical care and personal lifestyle choices.

This program, “Growing Up Healthy: Kids and Communities — Addressing Social, Economic and Environmental Influences on Health,”  focuses on improving young children’s health through high quality early care and learning, safe and healthy housing, a healthy physical environment, and connections with caring adults. 

It features the work of grantees around the state, including: 

• The National Center for Healthy Housing, documenting the positive health impacts of a green renovation of a low-income apartment complex in Worthington, Minn.
• East Side Neighborhood Development Company in St. Paul, creating healthier home and child care environments on the city’s East Side
• The University of Minnesota Regional Sustainable Development Partnership, reducing women and children’s exposures to pesticides in the Red River Valley and increasing residents’ access to locally grown produce
• Rice County Growing Up Healthy, working to connect residents of Faribault and Northfield to programs, services and resources to help them be healthier
• University of Minnesota Children, Youth and Family Consortium, working to ensure that Minneapolis families with young children have healthy home environments

“The program travels the state, showing neighborhood groups, nonprofits and others working together to create healthier communities,” said Joan Cleary, foundation vice president. “The effective models and cross-sectoral approaches shown are based on visions for better health that come from the communities featured in the program.”

The program is part of the grantmaking initiative by the same name, designed to nurture the healthy growth and development of children from birth to age five. The initiative supports community efforts to work across sectors on the connections between health and early childhood development, safe and affordable housing, and the environment.

Through this and other initiatives, the Blue Cross Foundation serves as a catalyst for policy and systems changes that lead to healthier communities for all. “Growing Up Healthy” is a coproduction of the Blue Cross Foundation and Twin Cities Public Television.