Section 2599-B. Program development

1. The program shall be designed to
  prevent and reduce the incidence and prevalence of obesity  in  children
  and adolescents, especially among populations with high rates of obesity
  and  obesity-related health complications including, but not limited to,
  diabetes,  heart  disease,  cancer,  osteoarthritis,  asthma  and  other
  conditions.  The  program  shall  use  recommendations  and goals of the
  United States departments of agriculture and health and human  services,
  the  surgeon  general  and centers for disease control in developing and
  implementing guidelines for nutrition education  and  physical  activity
  projects  as  part  of  obesity  prevention  efforts.  The  content  and
  implementation of the program shall stress the benefits  of  choosing  a
  balanced,  healthful  diet from the many options available to consumers,
  without specifically targeting the elimination of  any  particular  food
  group, food product or food-related industry.
    2.  The childhood obesity prevention program shall include, but not be
  limited to:
    (a) developing media health promotion campaigns targeted  to  children
  and   adolescents  and  their  parents  and  caregivers  that  emphasize
  increasing consumption of low-calorie, high-nutrient  foods,  decreasing
  consumption  of high-calorie, low-nutrient foods and increasing physical
  activity designed to prevent or reduce obesity;
    (b) establishing school-based childhood obesity  prevention  nutrition
  education and physical activity programs including programs described in
  section  twenty-five  hundred  ninety-nine-c of this article, as well as
  other programs with linkages to physical and health  education  courses,
  and  which  utilize  the  school health index of the National Center for
  Chronic Disease Prevention and  Health  Promotion  or  other  recognized
  school health assessment;
    (c)   establishing   community-based   childhood   obesity  prevention
  nutrition education and physical activity  programs  including  programs
  which  involve  parents and caregivers, and which encourage communities,
  families, child care and other settings to  provide  safe  and  adequate
  space and time for physical activity and encourage a healthy diet;
    (d)  coordinating  with  the state education department, department of
  agriculture and  markets,  office  of  parks,  recreation  and  historic
  preservation,  office  of temporary and disability assistance, office of
  children and family services and other federal, state and local agencies
  to incorporate strategies to prevent and reduce childhood  obesity  into
  government food assistance, health, education and recreation programs;
    (e)  sponsoring  periodic  conferences  or  meetings to bring together
  experts in nutrition, exercise, public health, mental health, education,
  parenting, media, food marketing, food security, agriculture,  community
  planning  and  other  disciplines to examine societal-based solutions to
  the  problem   of   childhood   obesity   and   issue   guidelines   and
  recommendations for New York state policy and programs;
    (f)   developing  training  programs  for  medical  and  other  health
  professionals to  teach  practical  skills  in  nutrition  and  exercise
  education to children and their parents and caregivers; and
    (g)  developing  screening  programs  in coordination with health care
  providers and institutions including but not limited to day care centers
  and schools for overweight and obesity for  children  aged  two  through
  eighteen  years,  using  body  mass  index (BMI) appropriate for age and
  gender, and notification, in a manner protecting the confidentiality  of
  such  children  and  their  families,  of  parents  of  BMI  status, and
  explanation of the consequences of such  status,  including  recommended
  actions  parents  may  need  to take and information about resources and
  referrals available  to  families  to  enhance  nutrition  and  physical
  activity to reduce and prevent obesity.

    3.  The  department shall periodically collect and analyze information
  from schools,  health  and  nutrition  programs  and  other  sources  to
  determine  the prevalence of childhood obesity in New York state, and to
  evaluate, to the extent possible, the  effectiveness  of  the  childhood
  obesity prevention program.