Physical Activity Update | Eat Smart, Move More…NC

On August 29, 2006, a statewide team of obesity prevention professionals released Eat Smart, Move More: North Carolina’s Plan to Prevent Overweight, Obesity and Related Chronic Diseases during a national obesity summit in Raleigh.

The Eat Smart Move More Five Year Plan offers specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-framed goals for anyone who is interested in creating a North Carolina where healthy eating and physical activity are the norm, rather than the exception in communities, schools and preschools, worksites, places of worship, and other venues. The plan outlines four goals, including:

Increase healthy eating and physical activity opportunities for all North Carolinians by fostering supportive policies and environments.
Increase the percentage of North Carolinians who are at a healthy weight.
Increase the percentage of North Carolinians who consume a healthy diet.
Increase the percentage of North Carolina adults, youth and children ages 2 and up who participate in the recommended amounts of physical activity.

Not only does the plan include four overarching goals to guide our state’s obesity prevention efforts, but the Eat Smart Five Year Plan also provides specific strategies for increasing awareness, changing behaviors, and creating policies and environments that promote and support physical activity and healthy eating in a variety of settings.

The Eat Smart, Move More Five-Year Plan supports the Eat Smart, Move More…North Carolina initiative, a statewide movement that encourages people to eat smart and move more wherever they live, learn, work, pray and play. You can download a copy of the Eat Smart Move More Five Year Plan on the Eat Smart, Move More…North Carolina Web site at: www.EatSmartMoveMoreNC.com.

Also released were the Eat Smart, Move More County Profiles, a collection of one-page documents profiling the successes and needs of each 100 counties in the state in the area of obesity prevention. The profiles also emphasize the need for more policies and environments that help make healthy eating and physical activity the norm, rather than the exception.

The release of these documents was a part of the Healthier North Carolina Summit, a day-long conference that brought together state and national leaders and experts to address the fight against obesity. The event was hosted by Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the N.C. Division of Public Health, in partnership with Healthy Carolinians. For more information about the summit, please visit, this site.

Programs, Projects and Initiatives

Let’s Just Play Go Healthy Challenge

The American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation have joined together to form the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, to combat the spread of childhood obesity and the serious diseases associated with it such as heart disease and diabetes. The Alliance has also created a partnership with Nickelodeon to help teens make healthy changes in their lives through the Let’s Just Play Go Healthy Challenge.

Let’s Just Play Go Healthy Challenge is following the lives of four everyday kids who are trying to make themselves, their friends and their families healthier. It looks at the many choices they make—or in some cases, don’t make—in their progress toward becoming healthier. It all culminates in the World Wide Day of Play on September 30th when Nickelodeon will go dark for three hours.

Kids can join the Go Healthy Challenge by signing on at www.nick.com to receive fun and easy tips on how to eat better and be more physically active. Organizations can join the challenge too. Visit the online toolkits to find everything you need to help your group take the challenge at this site.

For more information on the Let’s Just Play Go Healthy Challenge, please contact the American Heart Association at 919-463-8300 or sloan.garner@heart.org.

Walking Map and Stairwell Signs

Have you created a walking map for your worksite, faith based organization, community organization or school? Have you started a stairwell initiative to encourage more people to use the stairs? If so, share your success! We would like to add more examples of local communities from around the state who are helping people move more by encouraging more daily walking and stair use. If you have an electronic copy of the walking maps you have made or pictures from stairwell initiatives, please send them to Charlotte.Parsons@ncmail.net.

International Walk to School Day

On October 4, 2006, communities around the country are using Walk to School Day as an opportunity to promote physical activity/obesity prevention and pedestrian safety and to strengthen connections between families, schools and the broader community.

In 2005, a survey of walk to school coordinators revealed physical activity promotion/obesity prevention as the most common reason to hold an event.

Please consider using this event as a way for you to convey public health messages about nutrition and physical activity. Three ways to do this include:

Asking local partners to promote or coordinate Walk to School events in their communities.
Registering as a resource person for organizers conducting events in your state.
Helping co-ordinate a Walk to School event at a local school.
Please see the Walk to School web site for background information, planning guidance and registration.

National Recess Week

The Cartoon Network has declared the week of September 18-22 as National Recess Week to call attention to the importance of daily recess for elementary school students.

It is held in partnership with leading child advocacy groups including National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE), the National Parent Teacher Association, National Education Association, and Hands on Network, the goal is to encourage schools to support and celebrate recess. National Recess Week will include a number of elements that spotlight the significance of recess including a national media campaign, a kick off celebration in New York City on September 18, providing community recess monitor volunteer information and distribution of 10,000 free Rescue Recess Kits to participating elementary schools to use throughout the school year. Each kit will contain a variety of activity ideas, games and playground equipment such as red rubber balls, street chalk, whistles and jump ropes, plus instructions on how to hold a recess rally during National Recess Week.

Schools will be encouraged to host their own recess rallies, and on Friday, September 22 at 7 pm the Cartoon Network will present the animated series, Operation: R.E.C.E.S.S. Rescuing Recess Kits will be available to requesting schools while supplies last. Schools may register to participate at this site.

NASPE has developed a formal position statement that states, recess provides children with discretionary time to engage in physical activity that helps them, develop healthy bodies and enjoyment of movement. It also allows children the opportunity to practice life skills such as cooperation, taking turns, following rules, sharing, communications, negotiation, problem solving, and conflict resolution. Furthermore, participation in physical activity may improve attention, focus, behavior, and learning in the classroom.

Quality physical education and daily recess are components of the elementary school educational experience that enable students to develop physical competence, health-related fitness, personal and social responsibility, and enjoyment of physical activity so that they will be physically active for a lifetime. To download a copy of the position paper, go to this site, click on publications, position papers.

CDC’s Healthier Worksite Initiative

CDC’s Healthier Worksite Initiative (HWI) is pleased to announce the availability of their Web site, which is intended to complement the Office of Personnel Management’s HealthierFeds campaign.

This resource is designed as a “one-stop shop” for planners of workforce health promotion programs at federal and state agencies. The site features timesaving planning information, policy examples, step-by-step toolkits, and other quick resources to assist federal and state wellness planners in developing programs that foster healthy lifestyles among their employees.

If you have any questions or comments about the web site, please contact HWI at healthierworksite@cdc.gov.

Success Stories

Cyclone Games

Smith Middle School needed new scoreboards. Instead of simply turning to traditional fundraising efforts, the Smith Booster Club focused on how they could use this opportunity to not only raise funds for scoreboards, but to also support healthy families by promoting healthy eating and physical activity.

Breaking away from tradition required taking chances, according to Dr. Alice Ammerman, Smith Booster Club President, “take chances, make mistakes and get messy… that’s what has to happen for new events and new ways of thinking.” It was this willingness to take chances and employ new ways of thinking that led to the creation of the Cyclone Games.

The Cyclone Games, which included scooter basketball, relay races and big ball volleyball, got students and teachers up, moving and having a great time outside of the classroom. Adding a bit of good-natured “trash talk,” spurred even more for both teachers and students. Teachers could be heard taunting, “Just call me circumference, cause I’m gonna be running circles around you” and “I got more elements in my game than a periodic table.” Swift responses from the students included, “you think you’re all that and a cafeteria lunch, your games’ as ancient as the ice age” and “You can’t even pass the EOG.”

Eric Montross, star center for the ’93 Tarheel NCAA championship team and strong supporter of active, healthy children, provided color commentary, while cheerleading squads of both teachers and students lead whoops and hollers from Smith family spectators.

The games were followed by an Italian dinner of pizza, pasta, bread, salad and dessert, all home cooked by the Booster Club and supporters. Fundraising was accomplished by selling admission tickets to both the Games and dinner. To read the whole story, go to [this site] (http://www.eatsmartmovemorenc.com/successstories/indiv/schoolcyclonegames.html)

Featured Resources and Research

F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are Failing in America – 2006

Two-thirds of adults in the U.S. are overweight or obese, and more than 9 million children over age 6 are considered obese. Excess weight is far more than a matter of personal vanity; it is a major threat to public health. However, a new RWJF-supported report from Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) suggests that the nation has no real strategy for dealing with the impact of obesity and its many related diseases and conditions.

TFAH’s report examines obesity rates and policies across the states and the results of a survey of Chronic Disease Directors, who oversee obesity and disease prevention strategies for states. The report offers recommendations for how to spark a concerted effort to curb the epidemic.

For more information and to read the report’s recommendations,
Go to this site. (From RWJF 8/26/06)

American Heart Association Calls on Schools to Take Leadership Role In Providing Opportunities for Physical Activity

The American Heart Association (AHA) on Monday released a scientific statement urging schools to offer students more opportunities to be physically active during the school day and encourage more children to walk and bike to and from school, Reuters Health reports.
For more in formation go to this site (From RWJF News Digest 8/18/06)

Step Up! Step Out!

Step Up! Step Out! Is a physical activity intervention conducted by the USC Prevention Research Center in partnership with Sumter County Active Lifestyles and the Sumter County Recreation and Parks Department in Sumter County SC. The Step Up! Step Out! website is now available online and is appropriate for adults, men and women. Weekly behavioral tips, an exercise log, testimonials, safety tips and other information can be used help individuals become more physically active. While some of the information, such as where to exercise, has been tailored to the project community in South Carolina, most of the tools and info can be used anywhere. For more information go to [this site] (http://www.sumtercountyactivelifestyles.org) and click on Step Up! Step Out! logo. A list of publications about the project can be found on the PRC website.
(From: USC Prevention Research Center Notes - 08/2006)

FNS Launches New Eat Smart. Play Hard Kids’ Web Page and Healthy Lifestyle Web Page for Parents

This month, the USDA, Food and Nutrition Service launched two new web pages that will help kids, parents, and caregivers to Eat Smart and Play Hard. The new resources will also assist the target audience in putting the new dietary guidelines and MyPyramid recommendations into action.

The Eat Smart. Play Hard kids’ web page connects kids to healthy eating and physical activity experiences within the community. It provides kids with interactive learning and skill-building experiences in a virtual community setting. The web page encourages and motivates kids to make better lifestyle choices using kid-friendly entertaining techniques. Power Panther, the campaign spokes character, leads kids in exploring the town library, theater, fitness center, Power Tunes Store, post office, Eat Smart Grill, Fun Times Arcade, and travel center. Behind each door in this virtual community, kids learn healthy lifestyle skills through geography, music, reading, and science activities.

This web page is filled with songs, experiments, activity sheets, comics, clipart, worksheets, games, posters, e-cards, recipes, and other materials that parents make the MyPyramid guidance a part of their daily lives and set a good example for kids.
For more information about the Discover the Eat Smart. Play Hard kids’ web page, go to [this link] (http://www.fns.usda.gov/eatsmartplayhardkids).

League of American Bicyclist Releases SRTS Promotional Movie

The League of American Bicyclists has produced a four-minute promotional movie aimed at school boards, PTAs and others as yet unfamiliar with the many benefits of Safe Routes to Schools programs. The movie can be viewed and downloaded without charge. It is a non- technical introduction to the program that is ideal for small audiences and meetings. The movie, which was underwritten by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, fills a gap in available resources identified back in 2004 at one of the meetings of Safe Routes groups that eventually led to the formation of the SRTS National Partnership. “We’re delighted to be able to make this small contribution to the movement”, said Andy Clarke, executive director of the League, “and hope all the Partnership groups find it useful. For more information and to download and view the four-minute piece for free, go to this site (From SR2S newsletter 8/2006)

Internet PA Intervention For Girls

In North Carolina, 319 adolescent girls (grades 6-8) with home Internet access participated in a two week physical activity intervention to compare a web-based intervention to print media. One hundred eighty-one girls received the intervention materials via the Internet and 181 received printed materials. It was hypothesized that the Internet group would show greater increases in physical activity self-efficacy and intentions. Both Internet and print groups showed significant changes in self-efficacy.

Only the print group showed significantly greater increases in intentions to be active and a small but significant increase in self-reported physical activity. “A Comparison of Web and Print Media for Physical Activity Promotion among Adolescent Girls.” Journal of Adolescent Health, 39(1):96-104, 2006.

For additional summaries of recent research on promoting physically active lifestyles, visit the Research Updates section of our website at this link.
(From: USC Prevention Research Center Notes - 08/2006)

Complete Streets Guide 2nd Edition

The second edition of the Thunderhead Alliance Guide to Complete Streets Campaigns is now available through all on-line book sellers. The Guide provides an analysis of current complete streets policies and step-by-step campaign development process. Elected and appointed officials, community leaders and concerned citizens will be ready to take part in current campaigns or launch their own campaign after reading the Guide. For more information go to this site and click on “Complete the Streets.”(From: USC Prevention Research Center Notes - 08/2006)

Land Use and Health Toolbox

The “Land Use and Health Toolbox: Resources on Health and the Built Environment” is now available online. The National Association of City and County Health Officials (NACCHO) has assembled fact sheets, guides, PowerPoint presentations, web casts, policy reports and other resources to assist health practitioners, elected officials, and community planners make the connection between public health, community design and the built environment.

To access the toolbox go to this link. (From: USC Prevention Research Center Notes - 08/2006)

Developing Messages about PA: CDC’s VERB Campaign

Developing Messages about PA: CDC’s VERB campaign has completed a set of reports that present recurrent themes and recommendations for developing successful messages about physical activity. The reports are based on three years of concept and message testing among tweens (children 9-13) and parents in four ethnic groups, as well as the general market. In addition, a new report entitled “Inspiring Children’s Physical Activity: Exploratory Research with Parents” describes factors that influence parents to encourage their child’s participation in physical activity. The report summarizes the results of focus groups and in-home interviews conducted with mothers of 9- to 13-year-olds in 2003. These and other reports can be found at this site. (From: USC Prevention Research Center Notes - 08/2006)

Legislation

Personal Health Investment Today (PHIT) Act

In May, Congressman Weller (R-IL) Introduced the Personal Health Investment Today Act of 2006 (HR 5479).

The legislation was written to encourage Americans to change their behaviors and increase their physical activity in order to help curb the overweight/obesity trend and its role in increasing chronic disease. PHIT will allow individuals to place up to $1,000 annually in existing pre-tax Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), Health Savings Accounts (HSA), Medical Savings Accounts (MSA) and medical reimbursement arrangements to pay for exercise programs and equipment, youth and adult sports league fees, fitness and health club dues, etc. To view the bill, go to this site and enter the bill number. [The Activity Advocate, June 2006]

NACT Local Policy Database

The Prevention Institute, with funding from The California Endowment, has made available online the Environmental Nutrition and Activity (ENACT) Local Policy Database. The searchable database is designed to provide community advocates, health professionals, policymakers and those working in related fields with concrete examples of local-level policies that have been adopted and/or implemented to improve nutrition and physical activity environments. Have you worked on a local policy to make healthier eating easier for your community, developed a local plan to improve walkability, or established a policy to make sure students get active? You can submit examples of policies to include in this database. To view the database or to submit your local policy, go to this site. (From: USC Prevention Research Center Notes - 08/2006)

Grants

CVS/Pharmacy Accepting Applications for Community Grants Program

Deadline for Applications: October 31, 2006

CVS/pharmacy supports the communities it serves by providing nonprofit organizations the opportunity to apply for a CVS/pharmacy Community Grant.

The Community Grants program is currently accepting proposals for the programs targeting children under the age of 18 with disabilities that address any of the following: health and rehabilitation services; public schools promoting a greater level of inclusion in student activities and extracurricular programs;
and creating opportunities or facilities that give greater access to physical movement and play.

The Community Grant applications must be submitted online between January and October of each calendar year. For more information
go to this site.

Training and Professional Development

2006 Cooper Institute Conference Series

October 26-28, 2006
Dallas, TX

The 2006 Cooper Institute Conference Series: Parks, Recreation, and Public Health: Collaborative Frameworks for Promoting Physical Activity will be held October 26 -28, 2006 in Dallas, Texas. The deadline for abstract submissions is August 20. For conference information, go to this site.

SOPHE 57th Annual Meeting

November 2-4, 2006
Boston, MA

SOPHE’s 57th Annual Meeting, Health as a Human Right: Health Education, Equality and Social Justice for All, will be held in Boston, MA on Nov 2-4. September 8 is the deadline for Early Bird pre-registration and application for student scholarships. Go to this site for more conference information.