Sen. Tom Harkin was recently put in charge of spearheading the prevention and public health portions of Obama’s health care reform bill. According to Harkin, what America now has is not a health care system at all, but a “sick care” system that focuses on cleaning up the debris after illness has struck – rather than prevention before illness takes hold. In a recent Newsweek article, Harkin indicated that he would contribute to the health care reform by focusing on preventing disease and improving overall public health.

Changing Hearts and Minds

Harkin believes that reform must begin with changing the social and political infrastructure that supports health care. One way that he believes we can begin to make these changes is in the re-endorsement of the Child Nutrition Act in the coming year. Harkin wants to ensure, through the Act (which is under his purview), that children in America’s Head Start programs are educated on what kinds of foods are healthy for them, and that they will also be given free access to these foods. He says that if children are given free apples, oranges and veggies, they will eat them. By changing their minds about what is good for them and what tastes good, he feels we can change the way children (who eventually become grown-ups) eat.

Also, Harkin supported the current Farm Bill, in which he fought hard and won to get $1 billion earmarked to provide free fruit and veggie packets to disadvantaged kids in elementary schools. According to Harkin, within five years, 90 percent of underprivileged elementary school kids will have access to this program.

Fat, Salt & Sugar: The Enemies

As children, our tastes are shaped early on, and most of us were introduced to the wonderful world of fat, salt and sugar when we were quite young. For Harkin, the idea is to redefine children’s tastes for these kinds of foods when they are young so that they will make healthier choices as they age. A change in diet is one of the largest preventive health care measures that we can take to curtail illnesses like heart disease and diabetes.

Exercise: The Hero

Exercise programs are also a huge benefit to children and to reshaping the future landscape of healthcare. Harkin wants to provide reimbursements (and/or bonuses) for school meals only to the schools that have exercise programs as part of their curriculum. Harkin’s belief is that by making exercise and healthy eating part of children’s lives at an early age, we can help prevent diseases in their futures.