Nutrition Update | Eat Smart, Move More…NC

January 2008

News from the PAN Branch

2007 Eat Smart, Move More…Maintain, Don’t Gain! Holiday Challenge Wrap-Up

The 2007 Maintain, don’t gain! Holiday Challenge was a huge success. Eighty-four percent of participants reported maintaining their weight. Of those who did not maintain, 69 percent reported losing weight.

Over 3500 people from across the state, country and the world participated. Ninety-seven of the 100 North Carolina counties were represented. Participants from 24 other states, and 3 other countries also took part in the Challenge. The counties with the most participation were Wake, Orange, Durham, Pitt, and Forsyth.

Programs, Projects and Initiatives

NC County Trends in Key Health Indicators

The State Center for Health Statistics has just released an update of North Carolina Statewide and County Trends in Key Health Indicators. County and state data are presented together on a series of graphs, and the number of indicators has been expanded to 22. Thanks especially to Kathleen Jones-Vessey of the State Center for leading the effort to update these data.

This new report can be accessed at:
http://www.schs.state.nc.us/SCHS/data/trends/pdf/. See the “Technical Notes” link for definitions of the indicators.

Success Stories

See ESMM Maintain, Don’t Gain Holiday Challenge Wrap Up above.

Featured Resources and Research

Bright Ideas for the New Year - Eat Smart. Play Hard.^™ Materials Now Available

The Eat Smart. Play Hard.™ Campaign has resources to start the New Year out smart! The current edition of Bright Ideas highlights recipes, menus, tips, and other e-tools to inspire healthy eating and physical activity all year long. Be sure to check out the previous issues listed below!

Visit the website at:
http://www.fns.usda.gov/eatsmartplayhard/collection/Files/BrightIdeas/BI-NewYear.pdf

CDC Healthy Living Website

This page provides links to multiple healthy living topics across the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s centers. New additions to this page include a podcast on “Making the Business Case: Diabetes at Work” and a reference guide for physical activity programs for older adults.

For more information visit: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyliving/

New CDC Community Health Resources Website Launched

CDC’s newest online resource, the Community Health Resources Web site navigates you to CDC’s best resources to plan, implement and evaluate community health initiatives. Site visitors can Search or Browse the Community Health Resources database for links to hundreds of useful tools, guides, handbooks, fact sheets and other information

The Community Health Resources Web site is a collaboration of many CDC divisions and programs, including the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity and the Division of Adult and Community Health (DACH).
Visit the website at: www.cdc.gov/communityhealthresources.

Science Enrichment Preparation (SEP) Program

Held each summer on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the SEP Program is an eight-week, honors-level academic enrichment program for disadvantaged undergraduate students (rising sophomores and juniors) who seek admission into graduate/health professional programs. SEP scholars engage in more than 150 contact hours of rigorous classroom instruction in physics, organic chemistry, human physiology, and quantitative skills/biostatistics as well as seminars in reading speed and comprehension, test-taking strategies, essay writing, and interview techniques. Local trips to health facilities and a shadowing component expose students to a variety of career options and allow them to discuss their career interest with health professionals and biomedical scientists.

SEP Program dates are Saturday, May 17 - Friday, July 11, 2008.

The online application will be posted in mid-December and students are accepted on a rolling admission basis. Therefore, the process is highly competitive and the class is confirmed as early as possible in the spring semester. All scholars are provided free on-campus housing, reading materials/supplies (calculators, organic chemistry models, books, etc), and a financial stipend. Please click the following link to learn more about SEP http://nc-hcap.unc.edu/sep.html.

Participating in the SEP Program equips participants with knowledge and develops their skills through practical application. To learn more about the application process, please contact Ms. Paula Borden at pborden@email.unc.edu or call (919) 966-2264. Become and SEP Scholar today!

Expert Committee Recommendation Papers available in Pediatrics Supplement

The American Medical Association, in collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, convened an expert committee to develop recommendations on the assessment, prevention, and treatment of child and youth overweight and obesity. The expert committee guided the development of 3 articles that would explore current evidence-based science and form the basis of new recommendations on the assessment, prevention, and treatment of child and adolescent overweight and obesity. Representatives from 15 national organizations formed the expert committee. The committee used a multidisciplinary model and integrated approaches across disciplines. The conceptual framework is the chronic care model with the goal of achieving family/self-management of childhood obesity.

The product is 4 articles, 1 on each of the aforementioned overview areas of the management of obesity and 1 overarching support document. The articles were written by national experts in the field of childhood obesity who were nominated jointly by the members of the expert and steering committees.
Once the articles and the recommendations were finalized, the representatives took them back to the parent organizations for endorsement. The following organizations have endorsed the recommendations:

American Academy of Pediatrics
American Dietetic Association
National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
Association of American Indian Physicians
American Heart Association
National Association of School Nurses
American College of Sports Medicine
The Obesity Society (formerly NAASO)
The Endocrine Society
American College of Preventive Medicine
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
National Medical Association

The articles are available as a supplemental issue of Pediatrics. The issue is: Pediatrics Vol. 120 Supplement December 2007

For more information contact: Christopher Reinold at Cor4@cdc.gov or 770.488.5407

New Data Analysis from What We Eat in America, NHANES 2003-2004

New data analysis from What We Eat in America, NHANES 2003-2004 has been released on the Food Surveys Research Group website. Data tables on mean nutrient intakes from foods for 21 gender/age groups by race/ethnicity and family income can be found at http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=14958.

Also posted are reports from past USDA food surveys and studies dating back to the 1930’s. These reports can be found at http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=14392

For more information contact Alanna J. Moshfegh at Alanna.Moshfegh@ars.usda.gov or 301-504-0170

Legislation

USDA Updates and Improves Nutritional Quality of WIC Foods

For the first time in almost three decades, USDA has updated the food packages provided to participants through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

The changes will make it easier for low-income women and their children to eat healthfully. USDA, the National WIC Association and other advocates are to be commended for their hard work and patience.

Key changes to the WIC food packages include:

Fruits and Vegetables: The rule dramatically increases the quantity of fruits and vegetables provided through the WIC program. It provides vouchers of $8 per month for women and $6 per month for children to purchase fruits and vegetables. Fully breastfeeding women will receive $10 per month. This includes a provision to adjust the maximum value of the fruit and vegetable vouchers for inflation, over time.

Juice: The rule reduces the quantity of juice provided through the food packages, to bring the juice quantities provided to children more in line with the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommendations, and also to free up funding to provide more whole fruits and vegetables.

Cereal and Bread: Requires half of the cereals provided through the WIC Program to have whole grain as the primary ingredient by weight AND meet labeling requirements for making a whole grain claim. Requires bread and tortillas provided through the program to be whole grain.

Milk: The rule decreases the quantity of milk provided through the food packages, since currently WIC (which is intended to be a supplemental nutrition program) provides more milk than is recommended by the Dietary Guidelines. Also, the rule reduces the fat content of milk provided for children two years of age and older and women, no longer allowing the provision of whole milk to these groups.

Cheese: The rule reduces the quantity of cheese provided to lower the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol in the food packages.

Dairy Substitutes: The rule allows soy-based beverages and tofu to be substituted for milk in the food packages. (Unfortunately, the rule requires medical documentation for women and children to receive these soy alternatives.)

Eggs: The rule reduces the quantity of eggs provided through the food packages. The IOM concluded that protein is no longer a priority nutrient for the WIC population, and eggs are a big source of cholesterol in Americans’ diets.

Breastfeeding: The rule provides incentives for breastfeeding through provision of more fruits, vegetables, cheese, eggs, and canned fish for mothers who are fully breastfeeding than mothers who are not.

To view USDA’s rule on the new WIC food packages, go to: www.fns.usda.gov/wic/regspublished/foodpackages-interimrule.htm

Grants/Awards

No updates this month.

Training and Professional Development

Nutrition and Physical Activity Teleconferences

Every month, the CDC Division of Nutrition & Physical Activity (DNPA) sponsors a monthly teleconference on a variety of topics, but mostly dealing with nutrition and/or physical activity. The calls are scheduled the 2nd Thursday of each month from 1:30-2:30 p.m. The topic for the January 10, 2008, call is “Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity Update presented by William H. Dietz, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity. Anyone who would like the handouts or participate in future calls please send an email to nc5aday@ncmail.net

Every Woman, Every Time
Symposium on Preconception health and Folic Acid
Greenville, NC
January 23, 2008

Please join women’s health professionals from across the state for a symposium focusing on preconception health and folic acid on January 23, 2008, at the Hilton Greenville, NC. (8:00 am- 4:30 pm)

This year’s folic Acid Council meeting will be held from 1:15-2:30 as a part of this preconception symposium.

Highlights include:

The NC Folic Acid Campaign as an example of a successful preconception health program;
Two national speakers on preconception health: Merry-K Moos from UNC-Chapel Hill and Hani Atrash from the CDC;
Tips on how to reach youth and young adults with preconception health messages;
Credits offered: CNE, CEU, CHES; and
Only a $50 registration fee.

For more information or to download a registration form, please visit
http://eahec.edu.edu/

29th Annual Minority Health Conference
Chapel Hill, NC
February 29, 2008

The Minority Student Caucus of the UNC School of Public Health presents the 29th Annual Minority Health Conference “The Impact of Poverty, Culture, and Environment on Minority Health; February 29, 2008, at the William and Ida Friday Continuing Education Center in Chapel Hill, NC. The Conference will feature the 10th Annual William T. Small, Jr. Keynote Lecture by Nancy Krieger, M.S., Ph.D. Submit abstracts by January 11, 2008.

For more information visit:
http://www.minority.unc.edu/sph/minconf/2008/

25th Annual BRFSS Conference

Orlando, Florida
March 15–19, 2008

Save the Date! The 25th Annual BRFSS Conference will be held March 15–19, 2008, at the Florida Hotel and Conference Center in Orlando, Florida.

Since 1984, CDC’s Behavior Surveillance Branch has held annual meetings with state coordinators to plan and discuss the BRFSS survey. The BRFSS Conference typically draws survey coordinators, field supervisory staff, epidemiologists and others from all over the United States interested in the administration and analysis of BRFSS data. The conference provides opportunities for networking among state BRFSS coordinators, data collection contractors and others interested in surveillance systems.

The purpose of the conference is to determine the content of the following year’s BRFSS Survey and update attendees regarding state-of-the-art behavioral risk factor monitoring, methodologies, and technological innovations.

The conference showcases the successful application of BRFSS data by state-based programs such as diabetes, cancer prevention, tobacco and alcohol use prevention, family planning, nutrition and physical activity, and oral health.

For more information visit:
http://www.cdc.gov/brfss/conference/index.htm

Weight Management Certificate Programs

The Commission on Dietetic Registration will be offering Certificate of Training programs in Adult and Childhood and Adolescent Weight Management as noted below:

Certificate of Training in Adult Weight Management:

March 13-15, 2008 - St. Petersburg Beach, Florida
May 16-18, 2008 - Dover, Delaware
June 26-28, 2008 - Bellevue, Washington
September 18-20, 2008 - San Francisco, California

For registration information and to view the certificate requirements, timeline, registration deadlines and agenda:
http://www.cdrnet.org/wtmgmt/CertificateOfTraining.htm

Certificate of Training in Childhood and Adolescent Weight Management:

April 10-12, 2008 - Evanston, Illinois (near Chicago)
May 18-20, 2008 - Dover, Delaware)
June 5-7, 2008 - Austin, Texas
September 4-6, 2008 - Cincinnati, Ohio

For registration information and to view the certificate requirements, timeline, registration deadlines and agenda visit: http://www.cdrnet.org/wtmgmt/childhood.htm