Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'It Hurts My Head': Parents Struggle With Idea Of Sending Children Back Into Schools
As Covid-19 spread across the United States this spring, teachers, parents and students scrambled to move classes to online platforms such as Zoom and FaceTime. It was an enormous effort that seemed, to some, to offer few rewards. Supporting online learning left parents exhausted, even as they worried that their kids were slipping behind academically. Now, everyone wants to know: What will school be like in the fall? (Smith, 7/8)
Missouri leaders knew the risk of convening thousands of kids at summer camps across the state during a pandemic, the state’s top health official said, and insisted that camp organizers have plans in place to keep an outbreak from happening. The outbreak happened anyway. (Beck and Stengle, 7/7)
During summers before the pandemic, I was delighted to let my 7-year-old explore different sides of himself than what he focuses on during the school year. This might have meant more time in nature, doing fun coding projects, binge-reading age-appropriate spy series or spraying his little brother with the hose. I saw it as enrichment, but not the intensive parenting variety in which each and every activity must fit inside a neat trajectory leading to college acceptance, leading to an impressive degree, leading to a top-notch resume, leading to an impressive job. Instead, I wanted him to discover new interests and have a good time. (Strauss, 7/7)
Several Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia have joined in a lawsuit against Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, accusing the Trump administration of trying to unlawfully divert pandemic relief funds from public schools to private schools. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Michigan, Maine, New Mexico and Wisconsin have also joined. (Neuman, 7/7)
In other news —
A federal program that aimed to improve kids' access to healthy food significantly reduced obesity rates in children from low-income families, according to a new study. The 2010 passage of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act was associated with a 47% reduction in obesity prevalence in low-income kids, Harvard researchers found in a study published in Health Affairs that analyzed more than 173,000 students. That translated to more than 500,000 fewer cases of obesity among low-income kids, the health policy experts estimated, advocating for expanding access to the program as well as maintaining the act's original standards. (Kacik, 7/7)
