Reading: the prescription for Colorado’s future

While many people spent spring break reading the latest bestseller, I dove into compelling literature in the form of two respected, timely reports addressing issues of children’s health and literacy in Colorado.

The Colorado Health Report Card from The Colorado Health Foundation and the Colorado Children’s Campaign 2013 Kids Count in Colorado report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation may not be conventional page-turners, but each offers vital information. Both show a strong link between economic health and physical and mental development.

As a pediatrician, I see this link every day in my practice. As a state, we cannot ignore it.

The Colorado Health Report Card shows that, while Colorado is widely regarded as the healthiest state in the nation, we fall short on significant measures. For example, we rank 30th in childhood immunization rates and childhood obesity is on the rise, particularly in counties with higher poverty levels. “Poverty dramatically affects Colorado’s children and their overall well-being, contributing to poor health and low academic performance,” according to the report.

According to Kids Count, 21 percent of all Colorado children under the age of 6 lived in poverty in 2011. Since 2000, the number of young children living in poverty has increased by 136 percent. These children are less likely to attend preschool programs or have access to high-quality child care, while their parents often don’t realize that they are their child’s first and most important teacher. This frequently limits optimal caregiver interactions, which can result in delayed language, cognitive and social emotional development.

In other words, the playing field is not equal. Being poor often means starting school behind the curve in literacy and vocabulary development. A child who enters kindergarten behind may never catch up, but there is a proven intervention. “Reading aloud to children—in any language—is one effective way to promote language development and set the groundwork for strong literacy skills later in life,” according to Kids Count.

This is the foundation of an effective, established program already serving our state. Reach Out and Read Colorado works with health care providers to give new books to young children and prescribe reading aloud to parents in an effort to increase early literacy skills and bridge the developmental gap facing low-income children. It works. Children served by Reach Out and Read develop stronger language skills and larger vocabularies. They are more likely to enter kindergarten ready to succeed.

Reach Out and Read Colorado and health care partners provide new, age-appropriate books to low-income children at every well-child visit from 6 months to 5 years of age. I’ve been using the program in my own practice for years, and I see the results. It is not unusual for me to discover that the books I give to children are the only books in their home, but Reach Out and Read is more than a book giveaway program. It is a prescription for literacy. That’s what makes the doctor-prescribed model unique.

Not only do we get books into the hands of the children who need them most, we are able to directly instruct the parents about the importance and techniques of reading aloud to young children. An added bonus is that children learn to expect a new book when they come in for check-ups and immunizations. In a recent statewide survey, parents reported that the gift of a book even increased their likelihood of returning for the next scheduled visit.

Reach Out and Read serves about 85,000 Colorado children in 48 counties. That’s good, but it’s not enough. Every health care provider who sees children should become a Reach Out and Read partner, especially those whose practice serves a significant proportion of children from low-income households. Health care providers are credible, trusted partners with an unmatched level of access to virtually every parent.

When studies show that economic status, physical and emotional health, brain development and academic success are so closely linked, we must do everything we can to intervene on behalf of children who need the most help. Children who succeed in school are better equipped to break the cycle of poverty as adults. That’s good for Colorado’s children. That’s good for Colorado.

To learn more visit www.reachoutandreadco.org or call 303-623-3800.
Steve Vogler is a pediatrician at Denver Health’s Sandos Westside Family Health Center and founded Reach Out and Read there in 1997.

Vincent Carroll is The Denver Post's editorial page editor. He has been writing commentary on politics and public policy in Colorado since 1982 and was originally with the Rocky Mountain News, where he was also editor of the editorial pages until that newspaper gave up the ghost in 2009.

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