WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 3, 2024) – Nemours Children’s Health, one of the nation’s largest multistate pediatric health systems, completed its comprehensive commitment to help address the goals outlined in White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health. The goal of the Conference, announced in September 2022, was to end hunger and increase healthy eating and physical activity by 2030.
At the Conference, Nemours Children’s made a four-part commitment to help children and families access healthy food and learn about nutrition and physical activity, including the creation and sharing of tools and resources for other health systems’ use. In fulfilling its commitment, Nemours completed the following actions:
- Published a Social Needs Screening and Referral Guidance Document in December 2023 to help other health systems detect and address social drivers of health (SDOH) such as food insecurity and utilize SDOH data to enhance primary prevention efforts and policy work. We shared the guidance document directly with more than 1,200 key partners.
- Assessed, evaluated, optimized and spread the existing Nemours social needs screening tool. Nemours continues to explore best practices to spread social needs screening across primary, specialty and inpatient settings in the Delaware Valley and Florida.
- Leveraged Nemours KidsHealth.org to develop and publish 10 new articles and share 10 videos, in English and Spanish, with health and nutrition-related content. The 10 actionable videos launched in August 2023 are free to everyone and available on a special section established on KidsHealth.org, a pioneer and leader in pediatric health content that has been trusted by millions worldwide for more than 25 years.
- Finalized approach to expand the Nemours Cares Closets to four additional Nemours primary care locations in Philadelphia and throughout Delaware, which collectively served more than 26,000 children in 2023. The new Nemours Cares Closets sites will be fully stocked and operational by November 2024 to provide food and other items to families in need. In addition, Nemours worked with community partners to expand their backpack programs, which provide children access to nutritious meals outside of school hours. Nemours signed agreements with Philabundance, the Chester County Food Bank and The Food Bank of Delaware to ensure more children have access to nutritious food during out-of-school time. An estimated 10,000 individuals have been served in 2024 through these partnerships, in addition to 5,400 served in 2023.
The resources and work associated with the four commitments, showcased on this dedicated webpage, are intended to help families stay healthy and to foster collaboration among health systems, nonprofits and policymakers.
“The creation and completion of these valuable resources demonstrates our commitment to the goals of the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health, and our commitment to millions of children and families across the country,” said Kara Odom Walker, MD, MPH, MSHS, Executive Vice President and Chief Population Health Officer, Nemours Children’s Health. “Although our commitment to the White House Conference is complete, our efforts to go well beyond medicine for families and children continue.”
About Nemours Children's Health
Nemours Children’s Health is one of the nation’s largest multistate pediatric health systems, which includes two freestanding children's hospitals and a network of more than 70 primary and specialty care practices. Nemours Children's seeks to transform the health of children by adopting a holistic health model that utilizes innovative, safe, and high-quality care, while also addressing children’s needs well beyond medicine. In producing the highly acclaimed, award-winning pediatric medicine podcast Well Beyond Medicine, Nemours underscores that commitment by featuring the people, programs and partnerships addressing whole child health. Nemours Children's also powers the world’s most-visited website for information on the health of children and teens, Nemours KidsHealth.org.
The Nemours Foundation, established through the legacy and philanthropy of Alfred I. duPont, provides pediatric clinical care, research, education, advocacy, and prevention programs to the children, families and communities it serves. For more information, visit Nemours.org.
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