February 23, 2007

Cornerstone Pediatrics Grant Continues for Third Year

Cornerstone Pediatrics of Bellows Falls has received funding for the third year of a grant from the Fanny Holt Ames & Edna Louise Holt Fund. The fund provided $32,000 to Cornerstone Pediatrics for FY2007 to continue the work of “Jumpstart for a Healthy Life: A 3-year Project to Treat and Prevent Childhood Obesity.”

“Jumpstart” seeks to expand opportunities for children in the Greater Falls community to become more physically active and to eat more healthfully. The project also offers opportunities for families with overweight and obese children to receive nutrition counseling on modifying eating behavior and physical activity patterns in keeping with new national child nutrition standards.

Community activities to date have included an analysis of weights and the diets of Cornerstone Pediatric patients, a town-wide celebration of family fitness — “Moving & Grooving in Bellows Falls,” winter sports, and “Girls on the Run” programs for students at Central Elementary School. “Cooking for Life,” a free, six-week cooking and nutrition course is offered from time to time in tandem with Our Place Drop-In Center of Bellows Falls and the Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger (for teens 11 to 14). Call Susan at Our Place (463-2217) for information on the next course.

For more information about the “Jumpstart for a Healthy Life” project, visit: www.jumpstartbellowsfalls.com. To learn more about Cornerstone Pediatrics, call 802-463-2020, or check out the website at www.cornerstonepedsvt.com.

Cornerstone Pediatrics provides multi-faceted healthcare to more than 800 children and teenage patients in the Bellows Falls area. The renewal of the Holt grant allows Cornerstone to continue offering a wide range of services in the community, including efforts to educate and motivate families to become more physically active, in addition to teaching them how to “eat smart.” Other efforts include literacy and early childhood education projects.

Pediatricians Susan Slowinski, MD, and Valerie Rooney, MD, have a special interest in the complete well-being of their pediatric patients and their families. They look forward to continuing to provide healthcare for the Greater Falls area at Cornerstone Pediatrics, and to focus efforts on stopping the growing epidemic of childhood obesity in our community and the nation.

For further information on the Holt grant or Cornerstone Pediatrics, call 802-463-2020.