Seventh Installment premieres June 28; Looks at what has worked and what hasn’t toward making Nashville a ‘healthy city.’

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – From infant mortality to obesity to sexually transmitted infections, Tennessee ranks among the least healthy for children. But in the most recent statistics, there has been progress in many areas. In the seventh installment of Nashville Public Television’s Emmy® Award-winning “NPT Reports: Children’s Health Crisis” series, NPT looks at what has worked to improve children’s health and what still needs to be done. The roles individuals, families and communities play in ensuring all children can be healthy are examined,  as well as the challenges inherent in changing a system to ensure the healthiest options are the easiest options.

Produced by Mary Makley, who has produced previous episodes of the series, and hosted by actress Kimberly Williams-Paisley (“Father of the Bride,” “According to Jim,” “Amish Grace”),  “NPT Reports: Children’s Health Crisis: Culture of Health” premieres Thursday, June 28 at 8:00 p.m. It will be followed by a panel discussion taped in at NPT’s studios.

“With a nod to the future,” says Makley, “we conclude the first phase of the series with a look at what it would entail for Tennessee cities and towns to be truly “healthy cities.”

During the broadcast, viewers are encouraged to engage each other in discussion on Twitter with hashtag #childrenshealth.

NPT’s Children’s Health Crisis Project is a three-year initiative built around a series of seven documentaries on the state of children’s health in Tennessee. Other elements of the project include follow-up discussion programs, daily on-air health updates, an extensive project website and community outreach on related topics.  All episodes of the series, as well as bonus video extras and extended interview segments are available for free streaming at http://wnpt.org/childrenshealth.

At the 25th MidSouth Regional Emmy® Awards in January 2011, the “Overview” episode won the award for best topical documentary, and the “Infant Mortality” episode took home the Emmy® for best public affairs program. In March 2012, the entire “Children’s Health Crisis” project won the Emmy® in the Community Service category

"NPT Reports: Children’s Health Crisis" is made possible through major support by the Healthways Foundation, the Nashville Health Care Council, the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt and the Baptist Healing Trust, with additional funding by the Orrin H. Ingram Fund. A multitude of community partnerships have provided invaluable support to the project, most notably Alignment Nashville, whose “5 Pillars of Children’s Health” provided the initial outline for the project.

About Nashville Public Television
Nashville Public Television is available free and over the air to nearly 2.4 million people throughout the Middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky viewing area, and is watched by more than 600,000 households every week. The mission of NPT is to provide, through the power of traditional television and interactive telecommunications, high quality educational, cultural and civic experiences that address issues and concerns of the people of the Nashville region, and which thereby help improve the lives of those we serve.