Courtesy photo
Angela Bailey, RN/surgery manager at Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital, visits the
Siletz Tribal Head Start classroom in Lincoln City during Community Helper Week.
Help Tribal Children who are in need of a foster family.
Our kids need your help, your heart and your home.
Call today to make a difference. You can make a brighter, better
world for our future generations.
Foster a young tribal child today.
CEDARR
Community Efforts Demonstrating the Ability to Rebuild and Restore
Mission Statement
We will utilize resources to prevent the use of alcohol and other drugs,
delinquency and violence; we will seek to reduce the barriers to treatment
and support those who choose abstinance.
Call. Today.
541-444-8338 Marne’ Grusing
Foster Family Certifier
Marneg@ctsi.nsn.us
March 1 • Noon
Siletz Community Health Clinic
200 Gwee-Shut Road, Siletz
For more information about the Siletz Tribe, please visit ctsi.nsn.us.
What is BMI and why does Head Start track it?
tiality in place). High and low BMI
values trigger a potential risk and
therefore, a referral. This does not
necessarily mean there is a problem,
but it is currently the action point to
provide extra care for this child. A
referral may be in the form of a letter
requesting that you follow up with
your doctor. Another option would be
to talk to me, the consulting dietitian/
nutritionist. This service is available
to all Head Start families even if BMI
is normal. The program is currently
considering other approaches to sup-
port families. We are open to your
feedback and want to support all Head
Start families and the health of the
Tribal community.
By Nancy Ludwig, MS, RD, LD, Siletz
Tribal Head Start Nutrition
As part of my role as a consultant
nutritionist to Siletz Tribal Head Start,
I offer information for families. This
segment focuses on what may seem like
an uncomfortable topic – BMI, or your
child’s proportion of height versus weight.
Head Start children are young, they
have a lot of growing ahead and this may
appear to be a non-concern. Why does
Head Start measure children and then
refer some children to see their doctor?
This can be confusing and may feel like
some families are being singled out with-
out actually receiving a benefit.
Siletz Tribal Head Start is required to
track growth as well as other health infor-
mation. One purpose behind measuring
health indicators is to measure outcomes
and therefore possible success or short-
comings of the program.
If the program demonstrates success,
funding seems more likely to continue.
On the other hand, if health indicators
indicate increased risk, a closer look is
needed. This may mean changes to the
program to better support families.
Children’s health and nutrition indica-
tors are monitored in two primary ways:
1. Nutrition screening forms at parent
orientation with questions about your
child’s eating habits
2. Periodic measurements of weight and
height for all students (with confiden-
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Siletz News
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So what is BMI? BMI stands for Body,
Mass Index. BMI is a number calculated
from a person’s height and weight. It is
also called height to weight, because that
is a friendlier way to state the relationship
that helps to evaluate growth.
BMI measurements are an easy and
inexpensive way for medical personnel
and public health programs to track health
indicators. Measurements between the 85 th
and 95 th percentile are associated with risk
of being overweight.
This brings up an awkward subject
leading to the question “Is my child get-
ting fat?” Maybe yes, maybe no. Statistics
are not all perfect. They are screening
tools that prompt us to look into the situ-
ation further. We also must use common
sense and good judgment.
March 2017
Mathematically, it means that your
child is growing heavier faster than he or
she is growing tall. This might change
naturally because children don’t grow
proportionately through growth spurts
and your child might have gained weight
in anticipation of shooting tall.
It is important to look at this number
over time, not just once. BMI is more com-
plex in children than adults. The BMI of
children changes based on gender and age.
Therefore, to make the discussion easier,
BMI is converted to percentiles.
The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention’s website at cdc.gov/healthy-
weight/assessing/bmi/ provides free cal-
culators and information. Be sure to look
for the one for children between 2-19 years
old if this is for your Head Start child.
BMI percentiles are grouped into
weight categories for children of the same
sex and age:
•
•
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•
Underweight: below the 5 th percentile
Healthy Weight: 5 th percentile up to
the 85 th percentile
Overweight: 85 th percentile up to the
95 th percentile
Obese: 95 th percentile or higher
High BMI is associated with increased
likelihood of:
•
•
High blood pressure and high choles-
terol (risk factors for cardiovascular
disease)
Increased risk of type-2 diabetes or
insulin resistance
•
•
•
•
•
Breathing problems like sleep apnea
or asthma
Joint problems and musculoskeletal
discomfort
Fatty liver disease, gallstones and
gastro-esophageal reflux (GERD)
Risk of social and psychological prob-
lems from possible discrimination or
poor self-esteem
Becoming obese adults with addi-
tional health risks
Low BMI also can be associated
with risk:
•
BMI can dip in a growth spurt but
also can signal a problem that war-
rants medical attention, especially if
your child is not gaining weight or
has recently lost noticeable weight,
has diarrhea, vomiting, poor appetite
or low energy level
Siletz Tribal Head Start offers my
time at no cost to you to support family
nutrition over the telephone. If you have
nutrition concerns about your Head Start
child, please contact me via your teacher
or DeAnn Brown, program director.
I listen for how your child is being
supported to learn healthy eating habits
and build on your successes. I listen for
possible power struggles around meal
times, food security issues, food aversions
and more.
Together we focus on goals to empower
families to feel good about the choices they
make. Healthy children make for healthy
communities. We are in this together.