Nutrition Update | Eat Smart, Move More…NC

March 2008

News from the Physical Activity and Nutrition Branch

The PAN Branch Welcomes Jenni Albright, Julie Francis and Sherry Lehman

Jenni Albright has accepted the position of Evaluation and Surveillance Manager for the Physical Activity and Nutrition (PAN) Branch. In this role, she consults with all seven PAN Units to coordinate an overall evaluation plan for the Branch. She also joins the evaluation and epidemiology staff of other NC Division of Public Health programs and state agencies to utilize and strengthen statewide surveillance systems that monitor the prevalence of overweight/obesity, eating behaviors, physical activity behaviors, and the establishment of environments and policies that support those behaviors. She guides the PAN Branch in using evaluation and surveillance data to plan future programmatic and policy work.

Jenni has been an employee of the PAN Branch since August 2005. Her experiences of leading the 2005-06 evaluation of the Winner’s Circle in Schools program, leading the development of the Eat Smart, Move More County Profiles in 2006, and serving as acting coordinator for the NC Arthritis Program in 2006-07 have helped prepare her for this new role.

Julie Francis serves as the State Health Plan Worksite Wellness Specialist for the Physical Activity and Nutrition (PAN) Branch, NC Division of Public Health. Prior to joining the Worksite Wellness Team, Julie gained experience within the field of nutrition as a clinical dietitian, weight loss nutritionist, and WIC Program nutritionist.

Julie graduated with her MS in Nutrition in August 2005 from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), and recently completed a Certificate of Training in Adult Weight Management. Prior to entering the field of nutrition, Julie completed a BS in Biology at the University of Pittsburgh.

Outside of work, Julie remains active in her field, as the Secretary of the North Carolina Dietetic Association and a member of both the American Dietetic Association and the Raleigh District Dietetic Association. Julie enjoys spending time with her husband, Paul, and their families, as well as running, swimming, cycling, cooking, baking, and dining out.

Sherry Lehman has recently joined us from the Department of Public Instruction. She comes to us with experience in school health from a coordinated school health perspective. Sherry will continue to use her school health experience as a School Staff Wellness Specialist in the PAN Branch. She is a part time employee and manages a part time mental health practice during her free time. Sherry has a master’s degree in counselor education and is a Licensed Professional Counselor in North Carolina.

CDC Funding Sought by NC DPH

In mid-March, the PAN Branch and it’s many partners will submit to CDC their Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity program five year grant application. This grant currently provides NC with funding to support state infrastructure and local funding for Eat Smart, Move More NC Community grants. Many thanks to all the partners who have provided input and letters of support for this application.

Programs, Projects and Initiatives

New Minority Health Section on SCHS Web Site

North Carolina’s State Center for Health Statistics (SCHS) has a new Minority Health section on its web site. Go to www.schs.state.nc.us/SCHSand click on “Minority Health” on the left under Health Data. The new section summarizes in one place, to some degree, existing data and publications pertaining to minority health. There are also some new features. This data will be useful to you in your efforts to eliminate health disparities.

For more information contact Paul Buescher at paul.buescher@ncmail.net

Success Stories

Rich Square - W. S. Creecy Elementary School Fruit & Vegetable Program Impacts Students and the Community

Rich-Square - W. S. Creecy Elementary School is not a new participant in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP). School Year 2007-2008 marks the second year that Creecy, located in Rich Square, NC, has been one of twenty-five schools in NC selected to participate in the USDA FF&VP.

This opportunity for Creecy is the result of the continued efforts of Northampton County Schools’ Child Nutrition Program, school administrators, and the support of the students, parents, and community partners working together. The NC Department of Public Instruction Child Nutrition Services Section administers the USDA FFVP, with special funds approved by the US Congress and provided by the USDA. The program is designed to help increase students’ consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables by providing a free fresh fruit or vegetable snack daily to all the enrolled students during operational hours. (Creecy was approved to serve a morning snack and an afternoon snack daily.) This is an extremely effective plan of introducing fresh fruits and vegetables as healthy snack options in order to create a healthier school environment. This program also incorporates opportunities for nutrition education lessons in the classroom through educational materials. Each year, all participating schools get nutrition education training and resources provided by NC DPI and the Division of Public Health. Creecy staff used these resources to enhance their program.

Creecy staff have taken many steps to increase the success of this program with children including creative nutrition education strategies reaching out into the community with a local grocer, with parents, and throughout the school itself. To view the complete story, including pictures, go to www.fruitsandveggiesnc.com or http://www.eatsmartmovemorenc.com/programs_tools/school/index.html.

Featured Resources and Research

Invitation from the NC Fruits & Veggies Nutrition Coalition to Join New NC Community Garden Listserve and Provide Input on Community Gardening Website

Lucy Bradley, Ph.D., Extension Specialist, Urban Horticulture, with the North Carolina State University Department of Horticultural Science has created an email list serve to connect people/organizations in North Carolina who are interested in sharing information regarding Community Gardening. If you would like to subscribe please go to:
• http://lists.ncsu.edu/cgi-bin/mj_wwwusr?user=&passw=&func=lists-long-full&extra=nc-community-garden
• Enter your email address and Name and click “Subscribe”
• An email will be sent to you to confirm your wish to be subscribed to the list. Reply as directed in the email and you are set.
Please use the list to ask questions, share funding opportunities, announce training, etc.

If you have any trouble subscribing let Dr. Bradley know and she will be happy to add you to the list. Please let her know if you have suggestions on what else should be added to the NC State Community Garden Website located at: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/garden/CommunityGarden/index.html. Also if you know of any more gardens that should be added to the “Links” page, please send any information you would like added.

Contact Dr. Bradley at Lucy_Bradley@ncsu.edu

NC Public Health Month Materials for Local Health Departments

NC Public Health Month Materials for Local Health Departments are now available on the NC DPH Web Site: http://www.ncpublichealth.com/ncphmonth/index.htm
Materials include:
 Guidelines, facts sheets, logos
 Sample local proclamation, media release, and tips for working with the media
 Link to National Public Health Week web site
Record your local Public Health Month activities!! Directions for collecting and sharing these will be forthcoming!!

New FoodChamps.org Fun Way to Educate Children about Fruits and Vegetables

There is an exciting new addition to the Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH) website family, FoodChamps.org! This is a tailored site for children, joining PBH’s industry site, pbhfoundation.org, their catalog site, pbhcatalog.com, and their consumer site, fruitandveggiesmorematters.org.

FoodChamps.org is part of the new Fruits & Veggies–More Matters® health initiative. The new site is designed with children ages two through eight in mind and will educate and encourage them to eat more fruits and veggies while they play games, fill in coloring pages, and enjoy other fun, online activities. The website features PBH’s Fruit and Veggie Color Champions™. Kids learn about the Champions and then choose one to show them around the site. While on the site, children can have fun with fruit and vegetable math, play a fruit and veggie matching game, and even print out recipes to cook with an adult helper. They can also print out pages from the site to color with their own crayons or color special online coloring pages to print for Mom or Dad. The site also features an area that directs adults to the consumer site for more information about Fruits & Veggies–More Matters.

FoodChamps.org is a collaborative project with Imagination Farms, Kidzsmart, and PBH and was made possible by a generous donation from Imagination Farms and an in-kind contribution from Kidzsmart. The site offers age appropriate activities for kids two through eight years old, but may be appropriate for kids a little younger or a little older depending on the individual child. User testing conducted on the new website with kids two through eight years of age yielded positive initial results. Phase I of the new site is up and running now, and look for even more fruit and veggie fun to come later this year in Phase II.

The “Get Kids Involved” section of fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org will link to the new kids’ site and offer a quick preview of what kids will find there. Downloadable games and coloring pages on the Fruits & Veggies–More Matters site will remain available there.

For more information contact:
Jill Le Brasseur
Produce for Better Health Foundation
Tel: 302-235-2329
Email: jlebrasseur@pbhfoundation.org

SNAPS Community Profiles Resource from CDC

SNAPS (Snapshots of Data for Communities Nation-Wide) is a tool that CDC’s Community Health Education Team (CHET) uses when activated by the CDC Director’s Emergency Operations Center to tailor messages specific to communities affected by public health emergencies. CHET developed SNAPS to describe local level community profile information nation-wide. SNAPS has combined several national databases to provide these community profiles. It can be browsed by county and state and searched by zip code. Thus the name SNAPS…It provides a “snapshot” of key variables for consideration in guiding and tailoring health education and communication efforts to ensure diverse audiences receive critical public health messages that are accessible, understandable, and timely. Community level information in SNAPS includes educational attainment, ethnic makeup, countries of origin for immigrants, top languages spoken at home, religious affiliations, prevalence of disabilities, and economic profile of the region. It also identifies state/local health departments, hospitals, licensed broadcast media outlets, and some community based organizations.

There are plans to place SNAPS on the CDC public web site and CHET is working to get clearances for posting the data. In the meantime, if you would like to obtain a copy of the SNAPS CD Rom, please contact Nicole Bradshaw at 404.639-7168 or gqh3@cdc.gov.

Legislation

No updates this month. For national legislative priorities, visit the National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity (NANA) website http://www.cspinet.org/nutritionpolicy/nana.html

Grants/Awards

Ribbons of Hope Mini-Grants

Over the next three years, the North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation will award these grants to community-based nonprofit organizations in North Carolina. The $25,000 grants will support activities that establish or expand local programs in health, science, and education to serve identified needs of local communities. The next application deadline is April 1, 2008. Visit http://www.mcrel.org/GSKRibbonOfHope/ for more information.

Hamburger Helper: My Home Town Helper Grants

From: http://www.myhometownhelper.com/LearnMore.aspx
Got a hometown project? Get up to $15,000!
Need a helping hand with:
• Lights or bleachers for the baseball, soccer or football fields
• Books for the school, library, or literacy programs
• Playground equipment for the park
• Boys & Girls Clubs Programs
• New uniforms for Little League teams
• Red Cross health and safety programs
• Swimming and lifeguard training
• Equipment or supplies for a local food bank
• YMCA/YWCA tutoring or job training initiatives
• Other great ideas?

Here’s how it works:
1. Ask for help by giving us some information about you and your project.
2. Forward a link to your application to friends and family so they can add their comments and, more importantly, their support.
3. Keep in mind that awards will be based on the merit of the project, including its impact and support within your community.
Applications will be accepted February 1 – March 31, 2008.
Application & Rules can be found here: http://www.myhometownhelper.com/Apply.aspx

Training and Professional Development

Nutrition and Physical Activity Teleconferences

Every month, the CDC Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity & Obesity (DNPAO) sponsors a monthly teleconference on a variety of topics, but mostly dealing with nutrition &/or physical activity. The calls are scheduled the 2nd Thursday of each month from 1:30-2:30 p.m. The topic for the March 13, 2008 call has not been determined yet. Anyone who would like the handouts or participate in future calls please send an email to nc5aday@ncmail.net.

Priester National Extension Health Conference

Research Triangle Park, NC

April 8-10, 2008

Registration is open for the Priester National Extension Health Conference in RTP April 8-10! The 2008 Conference theme, “Building Healthy Communities, One Person at a Time”, celebrates Cooperative Extension’s long history of promoting health and preventing disease for individuals of every age and background, in families of all types, living in rural, sub-urban, and urban communities. The conference showcases the successful programs of Extension professionals, their
community and organizational partners, and their students. The conference is open to all friends of Cooperative Extension. Please note there is a core track on Successful Aging.

Conference Highlights and Invited Speakers:

 George Luber, PhD, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention; “Health Effects of Global Warming.”
 Lenora R. Campbell, RN, DSN, Winston-Salem State University; “The Health of Intergenerational Families: Creating a Win-Win for Grandparents and Grandchildren.”
 Julie Miller Jones, PhD, College of St. Catherines, Minnesota; “Fruits, Dried Fruits and Whole Grains - Just for the Health of It;” sponsored by the Raisin Board.
 Karen Stobbe, Improvisational actress, writer, and caregiver; “Creative Approaches to Alzheimer’s, Dementia, Caregiving and Aging Issues.”

For more information visit: http://continuingeducation.ncsu.edu/PNEHC/index.html

Pediatric Nutrition Symposium

Minneapolis, Minnesota

April 9-11, 2008

The Pediatric Nutrition Practice Group invites you to enhance your skills at the 2008 Pediatric Nutrition Symposium: Building Blocks for Pediatric Practice on April 9 - 11, 2008, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This symposium is targeted toward dietetic and food and nutrition practitioners working with pediatric patients and their families in hospitals and community settings. Key symposium topics include: current research and practice in the area of food allergies, nutrition care of the premature infant and breastfeeding support, the nutrition care process, and effective tools and strategies to address childhood overweight.

A brochure including a complete agenda, hotel and registration information can be found at www.pediatricnutrition.org.

WEB CONFERENCE:

How to Set up and Manage a Local Food Purchasing Program

April 23, 2008 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. EDT

Buying, preparing, and eating locally grown food has positive effects on students, the campus, the environment, and the surrounding community. Local food purchasing is also an important part of creating a campus with a sustainable future, and dining services administrators can lead the way in campus sustainability by introducing locally grown foods into their services. Join us and learn what it takes to start a local food purchasing program.

This web conference is aimed at institutions exploring local food purchasing or looking to expand their current local and sustainability initiatives. Directors of dining, dining services managers, purchasing managers, auxiliary service directors, and sustainability coordinators will benefit from attending this event.

Questions about the event? Call 720.488.6800 to help determine if this event is right for you.

Weight Management Certificate Programs

Various Dates and Cities

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:
• 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

7th Annual North Carolina Conference on Aging

“Healthy? Wealthy? and Wise? – Growing Older in North Carolina”

Greenville, NC

October, 28-30, 2008

The North Carolina Conference on Aging is a collaborative effort to develop a professional conference to provide educational and networking opportunities for anyone interested in long-term care, vital aging, family issues, work and retirement, leadership, and professional development. Realizing the diverse nature of this task, we have made a deliberate effort to include local, regional and state-level service providers, educators, students, consumers, volunteers, clients, caregivers, policymakers, and administrators.

Conference Tracks will include:
 Livable, Senior Friendly Communities;
 Economy of Aging;
 Healthy Aging;
 Family, Intergenerational Relations and Caregiving;
 Gender, Race, and Class;
 Elder Rights, Consumer Protection and Legal Issues;
 Health and the Continuum of Care

Call for Presentations Application Deadline is April 7, 2008.
More information is available on the conference web site at:
http://www.aging.unc.edu/nccoa/index.html

Piedmont Interfaith Network of Gardens (PING) Workshops

PING is a new network of church-based community gardens in central North Carolina, under the Come to the Table Project. PING helps churches celebrate their work, share information and resources, and provide healthy, fresh food to their communities. Workshops are planned for February through November of this year.

For more information visit: http://www.cometothetablenc.org/ping.html

2008 NC Fruits & Veggies Nutrition Coalition Annual Symposium Announced

Save the date of Wednesday, July 30, 2008 for the 2008 NC Fruits & Veggies Nutrition Coalition Annual Symposium and Star Awards. The conference will be held again at Johnson & Wales University—Charlotte campus. More information on the theme and conference registration as well as the 2008 Fruits and Veggies Star Awards will be available on the www.fruitsandveggiesnc.com website in April 2008.

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