Public Comment Period Now Open for Healthy People 2020

Healthy People, a national initiative that provides health promotion and disease prevention objectives to improve the health of all Americans, has opened its proposed 2020 objectives for public comment. The national health objectives, updated every 10 years to reflect new research and trends, are intended to address a broad range of health needs, encourage collaboration across sectors, help individuals make informed health decisions, and measure prevention efforts.

The Healthy People 2020 objectives are open for public comment through December 31, 2009. ASCD plans to specifically comment on objectives that align with our mission to provide children with healthy learning environments that support their academic, physical, and emotional well being. Our comments will be available to the public by December 18. We encourage other interested individuals and organizations to also comment on the objectives. Together, we can help ensure the Healthy People 2020 objectives are relevant to public health needs and help prepare our young people for healthy and fulfilling lives.

ASCD will comment on items like ECBP HP2020-1—Increase high school completion, and AH HP2020-12—Increase the percentage of schools with a school breakfast program. And we’ll also share feedback on objectives that talk about state data systems and policy changes. The objectives cover everything from food safety to public health infrastructure.

Comments can be shared anonymously or attributed to an individual or group via a simple login process. Folks are invited to make three kinds of comments:

• Objective text: Provide suggestions for adding objectives, deleting objectives, or clarifying the text of the objectives.

• Data source: Add, delete, or comment on the listed data sources.

• Status: Comment on the priority level and need for certain objectives.

Please let us know what you’ve commented on and stay tuned for more on ASCD’s Healthy People 2020 comments.