Public health initiatives to improve indoor air quality and to create healthy environment for head start children in Boston, Massachusetts

Many public health concerns, including asthma disproportionally affect children from disadvantaged and minority backgrounds. A large number of children enrolling in Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD) Head Start programs are diagnosed with asthma and other health conditions. In the 2011-2012 school year, of the 2,939 children enrolled in ABCD Head Start programs, 548 (18.6%) were diagnosed with asthma. Head Start children have much higher rates of asthma than the national and the MA state average. To address asthma and the environmental health risks in Head Start children in Boston, ABCD Head Start started several new programs. Beginning in October 2011, in partnership with the Boston Healthy Homes and Schools Collaborative (BHHSC) ABCD Head Start is implementing the Boston Healthy Head Start Initiative. Through this project BHHSC is helping ABCD Head Start staff and families and building capacity to address environmental health issues. Strategies include education/training in environmental hazards for staff and parents/caregivers; development of Children's Environmental Health Committees; revision of central policies to improve environmental health and dissemination of best practices to at all ABCD Head Start programs in Boston. Working groups consisting of community partners and ABCD staff are working on health policy development in three content areas: Tobacco Free Environments, Integrated Pest Management and Green and Healthy cleaners and disinfectants. Through these initiatives, BHHSC has successfully increased the capacity for ABCD Head Start staff and families to reduce environmental hazards in Head Start facilities in underserved Boston neighborhoods and in the homes of Head Start children.