Physical Activity Update | Eat Smart, Move More…NC

The Physical Activity and Nutrition Branch welcomed Jamie Cousins as the Acting Coordinator of the North Carolina Arthritis Program. Jamie comes to the PAN Branch from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) where she completed the Presidential Management Fellowship and served as a Public Health Analyst. Her responsibilities at CDC included budget, grant monitoring, and coordinating a national conference for the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention team. Jamie has a Master of Public Administration degree and a strong interest in promoting healthy living. She has worked as a trainer for the YMCA, and enjoys running, playing ultimate Frisbee, and spending time with family and friends.

Jamie will be transitioning into this role, taking the helm from Denise Brewster who has served in the role of Acting Coordinator since August 2007. Denise is returning to her passion, living on her sailboat with her best friend and husband, Dennis. We thank Denise for all of her wonderful work and welcome Jamie to the crew of the PAN Branch.

Programs, Projects and Initiatives

ACHIEVE Initiative

The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD) and the YMCA of the USA have announced that 10 communities will participate in a collaboration between local health departments and YMCAs.

This initiative, “Action Communities for Health, Innovation, and EnVironmental ChangE” (ACHIEVE), will partner local leaders and stakeholders to build healthier communities by promoting policy and environmental changes focused on: obesity, diabetes, heart disease, healthy eating, physical activity, and preventing tobacco use.

The communities are: Blackhawk, IA; Wichita, KS; Hancock County, ME; Albuquerque, NM; Cattaraugus, NY; Cleveland County, NC; Stark, OH; Allentown, PA; Houston, TX; and Tacoma, WA.

View the announcement. (From USC Prevention Research Center Notes Mar-Apr 2008)

Success Stories

Raleigh Downtown - Bodies in Motion

The Department of Cultural Resources (DCR) wellness committee created a walking map to provide their downtown employees a way to experience more physical activity during the workday. The walking map highlights routes that connect to each downtown DCR site and offers a safe and accessible route for employees to use. The committee also held a kick-off ceremony for the walking map, complete with a healthy snack and several raffle prizes. All participating employees received a ‘DCR Bodies in Motion’ water bottle to take back with them.
The kick-off highlighted the importance of wellness for DCR employees and also offered them a taste of NC history from their fellow colleagues, who served as historical tour guides during the walk. Read the whole story.

Featured Resources and Research

Safe Routes to School - Community Assessment Tool Training Program

GIS-based community assessment tools (“CAT’s”) are featured in a new on-line demonstration on the web site of the Active Living Resource Center (ALRC).
The tools, which are aimed at community members who can be quickly trained to use the PDA software, was developed by a team of professors and students at the University of Oregon, working with ALRC staff.

Community members work in teams to assess the strengths and limitations of an area. The first module in the series gathers information about safe routes to school. Other planned modules will include ADA, transit, complete streets, and the bikeability of an area.

The team is building a series of “modules” which will eventually allow community members to quickly assess areas around schools, Complete Streets, ADA facilities, and routes to transit. Once the data is gathered, the software assembles maps showing a variety of information, such as missing crosswalks, curb ramps, or streets that are deemed unsafe due to high traffic speeds or missing sidewalks.

View the new on-line demo, developed by ALRC staff member Chris Jordan. (From CDC/NSPAPPH Physical Activity One-Way Listserv, April 2, 2008)

Special Issue of Preventive Medicine

The January 2008 special issue of Preventive Medicine (Volume 46, Issue 1: pp. 1-84) focuses on self-transportation, public transportation, and health. Many of
these articles are related to PA. Access for free here. (From USC Prevention Research Center Notes Mar-Apr 2008)

CDC Community Health Resources

The CDC, working with the YMCA’s Pioneering Healthier Communities program, recently implemented a new website designed to be the single source for finding CDC’s best web-based materials concerning chronic disease and health disparities.

The site features direct links to hundreds of resources, including program guidelines and recommendations, campaign materials, handbooks, fact sheets, evaluation frameworks, and behavioral and risk factor data, among other topics. Click here for more information. For physical activity information, click on “Physical Activity” under “Browse by health topic.”
(From USC Prevention Research Center Notes Mar-Apr 2008)

Legislation

Preventing Diseases Through Physical Activity

The Healthy States Initiative produces policy briefs and talking points that provide state legislators with concise, up-to-date information on public health topics. It describes the effects of being inactive, benefits of PA, associated disparities, and action items for state legislators.

Access “Talking points on preventing disease through PA”.
Visit the Healthy States website to see the list of available publications.
[(From USC Prevention Research Center Notes Mar-Apr 2008). Source: Council of State Governments Newsletter, 2/27/08]

Grants

Active Living Research- Call for Research Proposals

Proposal Deadline: May 14, 2008

Active Living Research is a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This call for proposals is the first to reflect a new emphasis for Active Living Research. The program will now focus on supporting research to inform policy and environmental strategies for increasing physical activity among children and adolescents, decreasing their sedentary behaviors and preventing obesity. Information on this proposal.

Other Active Living News:

A new special issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine will be released in April 2008 and include many of the papers presented at the fourth annual Active Living Research Conference in February 2007.

Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law

The results of ten case studies funded by Active Living Research (CFP Round 4) will be published in a May 2008 special issue of the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law.
Full text articles from both journals will be available on the Active Living web site. (From CDC/NSPAPPH Physical Activity One-Way Listserv, April 2, 2008)

Saucony Run For Good Foundation Offers Funding for Children’s Running Programs

Deadline for Applications: June 13, 2008

Established to help end childhood obesity by providing financial support to nonprofits across the United States that support children’s running and fitness programs, the Saucony Run For Good Foundation is accepting applications for its grant program. Saucony, Inc., a subsidiary of the Stride Rite Corporation, is a global supplier of performance athletic footwear and apparel.
The grants are open to nonprofit organizations that initiate and support running and fitness programs for kids.

Eligible applicants are programs whose participants are 18 years of age or less, have 501(c)(3) status, and can demonstrate that their program positively impacts the lives of participants through their increased participation in running. The foundation has two grant cycles per year, with up to seven awards granted each cycle. Grants are in amounts up to a maximum of $10,000 each. Find out more. (From [Enewsletter] NCPPA News, 4/18/2008)

Training and Professional Development

Healthy Schools Institute

June 17 – 20

Hickory, NC

The 2008 Healthy Schools Institute, “North Carolina Healthy Schools: From Vision to Reality,” will take place June 17-20 at Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory, NC. This year’s Institute will offer a variety of sessions presented by recognized leaders in many areas, including Staff/Personal Wellness, Obesity Prevention, Mental Health, Sexual Health, Injury/Violence Prevention and School Environment (social, built and natural), as well as skills building and all eight components of Coordinated School Health Programs (CSHP)!

Educators, School Health Advisory Council (SHAC) members, public health professionals, school nurses, school nutrition professionals, school mental health and human service professionals, family members and others interested in healthy successful students are invited to attend. Participants will be able to collaborate effectively through their local SHAC to support the CSHP model; gain skills in needs assessment and planning, grant writing, advocacy and evaluation; complete a local strategic action plan to enhance the health and well-being of school-aged children and youth and contribute to a 2008-2013 statewide strategic action plan to better support local SHAC and school-level efforts. Certificates of Attendance will be awarded for 2.4 contact hours. For more information go the NC Healthy Schools Website. (From the NC Healthy Schools Web site)