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Hundreds if not thousands of brightly colored handprints are handing three stories tall at the state capitol as part of the annual Kids Week. Characters roam the courtyard outside and kids along with their parents have been turned into lobbyists, trying to convince lawmakers to do more. Children’s Campaign activist Roy Miller says Florida kids are ranked 36th nationally in overall health.

“Well, there isn’t just one thing, but we need to make sure that kids are born healthy because if they don’t start down the path of health at childbirth, it’s an uphill climb. We need to protect them from abuse. We need to make sure they can read,  and are ready for school. And when they go down the wrong path, we need to put them on the right path.

The 2011 Kids Count survey says the number of children living in poverty is now twenty-one percent, up two percentage points in a decade.