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Our Prevention Efforts

Strong4Life is Children’s child advocacy and prevention arm, backed by Children’s doctors, nurses, therapists, dietitians and other wellness experts. Strong4Life focuses on obesity prevention, behavioral and mental health, injury and illness prevention, and child protection.

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At Children’s, our mission is to make kids better today and healthier tomorrow. Strong4Life is one of the many ways we deliver on that promise. As the prevention arm of Children’s, we’re dedicated to keeping children out of our clinics, urgent cares and hospitals. Our team of Children’s doctors, therapists, nurses, registered dietitians and other wellness experts is here to help busy families raise healthy, safe, resilient kids.

In 2010, Georgia ranked second in the nation for children experiencing overweight and obesity. That’s when Children’s created Strong4Life. In 2012, this newly formed team of doctors, registered dietitians and exercise physiologists—along with their robust team of health communications, research and evaluation (data) professionals—launched a community prevention model consisting of programs, trainings and resources to reach families with consistent healthy habits messaging where kids live, learn and play.

Building on this obesity prevention model—with programs supporting pediatricians, schools, youth-serving organizations and more—we began expanding our team of experts in 2018 to cover additional specialties: behavioral and mental health, injury and illness prevention, and child protection.

Parent-child relationships are important, but we know that parents are not the only adults involved in kids’ and teens’ lives. That's why, in addition to the resources for parents and caregivers on Strong4Life.com, our team is actively developing, implementing and enhancing programs throughout Georgia using our community prevention model.

Strong4Life programs in doctors’ offices

Our team of wellness experts train clinicians and staff in pediatric practices throughout the state of Georgia on motivational interviewing, raising healthy eaters and building resilience. In addition to training opportunities, participating practices receive free resources to share with patient families. If your child’s pediatrician completes these training opportunities, you can expect to see and receive Strong4Life materials—such as posters, healthy habits handouts, early feeding tip sheets, resilience tips sheets, coping skills tip sheets, story books, journals and more—at your child’s well visits.

Strong4Life programs in early care centers

We offer several wellness trainings to teachers, administrators and other early care center professionals covering a range of topics, from feeding and nutrition to emotional wellness to physical activity and safety.

Strong4Life programs in schools

We’ve worked with more than 1,800 schools in Georgia providing training, resources and support to promote healthy habits. It takes everyone in the schools working together—from the administration to the teachers, nurses, coaches, counselors and nutrition staff—to make a positive impact on students.

  • School Nutrition Program: Provides schools with tools to encourage students to make smart, balanced choices in the cafeteria and encourage school lunch participation.
  • Building Resilience in School-Aged Youth Training: Supports teachers and other school staff in promoting emotional wellness and fostering resilience in all students, so that they can learn to better handle life’s ups and downs.
  • Pledge Program: Promotes wellness by helping schools work toward one small wellness change throughout the school year with tools and resources.
  • Challenge Program: Helps educate elementary-aged students about the importance of practicing healthy habits, and helps schools create healthy environments where students can learn, play and thrive with a pep rally, follow-up visit and resources.
  • School Health Program: Works closely with school health personnel (including school nurses) throughout the state to provide them with educational materials, training and support.
  • Project S.A.V.E.: Provides education for improving the prevention of sudden cardiac arrest in children and teens, along with the opportunity to become a HeartSafe school.
  • Ronald McDonald Care Mobile: This fully functioning medical clinic brings primary care to children where they live, learn and play.
  • Safety on Social Media: This student-facing presentation centers on a discussion about conducting oneself responsibly online and safety planning for potential risky situations that could arise on social media, either in their own lives or in the lives of their peers.
  • Not a #Number: Child Trafficking and Exploitation Prevention Curriculum: This curriculum is delivered over five 60-minute modules for students and discusses ways to identify vulnerabilities and discuss topics such as consent, healthy relationships, online safety and risky behaviors.

Out of school, extracurricular and community programs

The health of children and teens is directly affected by the environments where they spend their time—including out of school time (OST) and community programs, youth-serving organizations and more.

  • Out of School Time (OST) Program: We offer training and resources (printables, guides, videos and more) to help OST programs teach, model and support the development of healthy habits in children and teens.
  • Community Programs: We work with local youth-serving organizations and counties to train staff and share Strong4Life resources and programming.
  • Community events: Strong4Life Wellness Champions share healthy habits messaging and giveaways at events in the community, including races, festivals, health fairs and more.
  • Nurse Navigator Program: Strong4Life provides nurse navigators at multiple early care locations, including Sheltering Arms and YMCA, to support the community by making it easier for families to access care and resources.

From challenges that come with changes in technology and social media, to pressure at school and in after-school activities, to concerns about the news and current events, our children and teens are facing a lot. And many of them are struggling to cope. The truth is, we can't control everything that happens to our children. But there are things we can do to help.

Raising Resilience

That’s where Raising Resilience comes in. With the Raising Resilience mental health initiative, we're giving parents and caregivers tips and tools—all from our Strong4Life mental health experts—to proactively build resilience in children and teens. We can teach them to be resilient in the face of life's ups and downs by preparing them to cope with challenges, manage stress and make healthy choices. From navigating feelings to developing problem-solving skills, we're here to help you build resilience in children as they grow.

To learn more about Raising Resilience, or to sign up for emails, visit Strong4Life.com/resilience.

To support our programs—and ultimately all families in Georgia—we house a wealth of free resources on Strong4Life.com (a lot of which is also available in Spanish).

Pairing expert advice balanced with real-life parenting experience, we take a whole-child approach to wellness. We know that to build strong bodies and minds, children need:

  • Nutritious, developmentally appropriate foods in a positive mealtime environment.
  • Structured and unstructured physical activity.
  • Plenty of rest in a safe sleep environment.
  • Opportunities to identify, express and manage their feelings.
  • Parents and caregivers who are responsive, nurturing and model healthy habits.

To help parents and caregivers meet those needs, our prevention work focuses on four pillars:

Fun fact: Strong4Life can mean two different things to a Children’s employee: the Strong4Life that helps families in the community and the Strong4Life Employee Wellness team that supports Children’s employees.

To learn more about Strong4Life, sign up for our emails and visit Strong4Life.com.