Sesame Street's Online Resource Helps Families Learn About The Health Risks Of Lead

Sesame Street Lead Away offers ways for parents and caregivers to protect children from lead poisoning.

While blood lead concentrations have decreased dramatically in the United States since lead-based paint was banned in 1978, lead poisoning continues to pose serious health risks to young children. According to a recent article in the journal Pediatrics, roughly one quarter of children in the United States lives in housing containing deteriorated lead-based paint. Very often, children living in such housing may come from low-income or minority households. We also know that children can be exposed to lead in other ways, such as through dust or through paint and plastic in toys that haven't been manufactured and shipped according to regulations.

Fulfilling a need for information on lead

When the federal government approached Sesame Workshop to help deliver the message of lead poisoning prevention to children and their caregivers, it was the first time the nonprofit organization had considered shaping an entire project around a specific health topic. The decision to take on the cause came easily when the Workshop noted that those most impacted by lead poisoning were the same low-income and minority children Sesame Street had been reaching for more than 30 years.

It was also the first time the Workshop decided that in order to get the message out, the project materials needed to be offered in Spanish as well as English. Dr. Jeanette Betancourt, Sesame Workshop's vice president of outreach and educational practices explains, "It was the first [Sesame Workshop] project that took a little step toward doing some materials in Spanish … because the African-American and Latino communities were the large groups being impacted."

As a result, the Workshop developed the Sesame Street Lead Away project, which:

• Increases awareness that lead poses a serious health risk to young children
• Informs parents and caregivers that lead exposure is preventable
• Provides parents and children with important information about what lead is, where it can be found, and how to prevent exposure

The Workshop is currently developing additional bilingual online resources. Betancourt says, "we are pleased to have this online resource, available in English and Spanish, in a format that allows children and adults to use the materials easily, and in ways that will not frighten children but engage them to actually prevent exposure to lead."

Protection tips for parents and caregivers

Through streaming video, downloadable activity pages, a Sesame Street Muppet story, and printable tips, Sesame Street Lead Away helps parents and children learn that through simple actions, they can avoid lead's dangers. These include staying away from peeling paint, washing hands before eating, and leaving shoes at the door. The project also provides parents and caregivers with information about lead in toys. Families can easily incorporate the prevention strategies into their everyday routines.

Sesame Street Lead Away will be available to families as long as there is a need to teach children ways to prevent lead exposure.