Why is eating good food so hard?

A story created by Jennifer Warpinski from the Fitness and Nutrition Coalition of Outagamie County.

Speed Date review: Social Media and Collaborative Communication Tools

Julie Swanson from the Wisconsin Clearinghouse for Prevention Services offered coalitions an opportunity to "speed date" social media and collaborative communication tools during our Tuesday, Dec. 21st Coalition Teleconference.

Social Media Tools

• Blogs use to publish information (ex. http://hip-eatmovelive.blogspot.com/)
• RSS (real simple syndication) use to keep up to date on blogs (ex. use a reader like Google Reader to follow blogs you're interested in)
• Micro-Blog use to get out quick updates to a mass audience (ex. http://www.twitter.com/)
• Photo sharing use to share photos with colleagues and/or find photos for documents or presentations (ex. http://www.flickr.com/, https://posterous.com/)
• Video sharing use to share video — spread excitement and model action (ex. http://www.youtube.com/, http://www.vimeo.com/)
• Social Networks provide an online community that connects you with other people (ex. http://www.facebook.com/)

Collaborative Communication Tools

• RSVP Tools provide easy, fast way to set up meetings (ex. http://www.meetingwizard.com/)
• Survey use to collect data in real time (ex. www.surveymonkey.com)
• Collaborative calendars, documents, wikis, and video chat make planning and editing collaborative and communication easier (ex. Google)
  

What social media and collaborative communication tools do your coalitions use? Please share examples of blogs, wikis, websites, etc. Click on Comment below to respond.

Health Eating Active Living Coalition of Pierce County was named as something that is positively impacting health in River Falls. Read the article in the River Falls Journal:
http://www.riverfallsjournal.com/event/article/id/97172/

A River Falls area health care provider held nine sessions across its Minnesota and western Wisconsin service region. Collective attendance totaled 260 people representing businesses, non-profit organizations, schools and government entities.

Participants were asked what is positively impacting health in their community and what barriers to health exist in their community.

"Those responding cited the things they think positively impacts health in River Falls: The Kinnickinnic River, the Free Clinic, sports activities for youth and adults, the YMCA, and the Healthy Eating Active Living Coalition focused on improving nutrition and increasing activities."

In terms of barriers, "most said cutting physical education in schools has had a two-way negative effect on kids’ health; not only are they not getting exercise in school but also don’t learn the lessons and skills they need to be active."

Child Nutrition Reauthorization: Putting the Act into Action!

The Food Research and Action Center is launching a series of Webinars, titled CNR: Putting the Act into Action, that will examine the provisions of the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act signed by the President this week.

The first Webinar is scheduled for 12 p.m. CST on Friday, Dec. 17th.

Speakers for Friday's Webinar include:
Jim Weill, President, Food Research and Action Center
Geri Henchy, Director of Nutrition Policy and Early Childhood Programs
Crystal FitzSimons, Director of School and Out-of-School Time Programs

Register for the Webinar here: https://frac.peachnewmedia.com/store/seminar/seminar.php?seminar=6772

Active Schools Initiative: Advocacy Training

We had an outstanding turn-out for our first Advocacy Training last Thursday, Dec. 9th!

Highlights:

• Department of Health Services Secretary Karen Timberlake kicked off the meeting talking about the importance of obesity prevention work, educational advocacy, and policy change.


• What's the difference between Educational Advocacy and Lobbying? Our trainers for the day Jill Ness, Melissa Horn and Steve Elliott laid out the rules of the road.


• Advocacy Training was a healthy training, complete with physical activity opportunity!
• Grassroots: Maintain a database of volunteers. Include name, address (so that you can determine legislative district), phone number, email, interests and special skills. Here's a sample database!
• Media Advocacy: Pitching a national story to your local media ...
  1.) Describe the issue
  2.) Take some key facts and make them your own by using local examples and making the story personal
  3.) Why is it important? Why would the listener care? How does it effect the listener or reader?
  4.) Call to action.
• Policymaker Education: Tip: When you meet with a policymaker, don’t go alone. Ensure that all attendees identify themselves as constituents/residents of the policymaker’s district and engage as many attendees as possible as speakers.

Unsolved Coalition Mysteries: Phone Banking

We spent Wednesday, Dec. 1 making training videos as part of the WI Clearinghouse for Prevention’s “Inspire Action Video Workshop” ... check out this one!

Unsolved Coalition Mysteries: Phone Banking from Tobwis on Vimeo.

Active Early in the News!

Active Early is making news!

Check out the state news release about Wisconsin child care providers joining the fight against childhood obesity.

"We know that focusing on nutrition and physical activity in kids before age 5 promotes life-long healthy habits," said Karen Timberlake, Department of Health Services Secretary. "With hildren spending, on average, more than 30 hours per week in child care centers, these providers are well placed to help get kids moving and enjoying physical activity."

Update:
"By participating in Active Early, I hope it will bring more activity into the daily lives of the children in my care," said Darlene Tanck, owner of Dolly’s Daycare in the Merrill Foto News.

Read the full story here: http://www.merrillfotonews.com/usersubmittedstories/113078704.html

La Crosse County: Early Farm-to-School Successes

Since the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year, the La Crosse County Communities Putting Prevention to Work program has already coordinated the purchase, processing and distribution of more than 6,000 pounds of fresh local produce for more than 9,300 students in four La Crosse County school districts.

By the end of 2010, the four school districts will have served the following local, minimally-processed products:

• 3,700 ½-cup servings of fresh carrot sticks
• 4,200 ½-cup servings of frozen carrot slices
• 4,500 ½-cup servings of frozen, ready-to-roast multi-colored potato mix
• 2,200 ¼-cup servings pre-roasted, heat-and-serve Red Kuri winter squash wedges
• 3,500 ½-cup servings of broccoli florets

“We’ve always served fruits and vegetables," said Joni Ralph, La Crosse School District nutrition supervisor. "What this is bringing them is local, seasonal produce. Kids will get to experience a lot more choices of different produce they may not have tried before."

The CPPW Farm to School Coordinator, Josh Miner, built a network of new partnerships between more than a dozen area producers, local food wholesale distributors, and a new community access kitchen based in Mineral Point (http://www.wi.innovationkitchen.org/) to handle food processing.

Challenges remain, but by the end of the Communities Putting Prevention to Work grant period in March 2012, La Crosse County hopes to have demonstrated that a coordinated, local supply chain that delivers locally-produced, minimally-processed, heat-and-serve produce products to school districts is healthy for students and staff, the local economy, and the community at large.

For more information about La Crosse County's F2S efforts, contact Sara Tedeschi at the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems or Amy Alvig at the Department of Health Services.

Photo: Students in the La Crosse School District's Franklin Elementary after-school program taste test apples. Photo courtesy of La Crosse County Public Health Department.

Using policy to promote community use of schools

On November 15, Communities Putting Prevention to Work invited Dr. John Spengler from the University of Florida to discuss his research on school joint-use agreements (recently published as “Policies to Promote the Community Use of Schools: A Review of State Recreational Use Statues,” in The American Journal of Preventive Medicine).

Dr. Spengler outlined the different types of joint and shared use agreements that school districts and communities can adopt, and discussed the benefits and challenges facing these partnerships.

Strong relationships exist between policy issues, characteristics of natural and built environments, and personal levels of physical activity. Joint-use agreements can create or improve safe places for people to be physically active.




School districts and communities weighing joint or shared use agreements must address real and perceived barriers related to:

• liability


• maintenance


• vandalism and crime


• scheduling, and


• costs associated with normal operations (staff time, utilities, etc.).

Among the benefits of thoughtful joint-use agreements — beyond the obvious benefits of providing safe places for community members to be physically active — school districts and communities cited increased community collaboration and strengthened ties between schools and families.

To hear a recording of this call, please dial toll free (888)567-0476. The entire call lasts approximately one hour.

Online resources:

- Public Health Law & Policy’s Joint-Use Toolkit
- NPLAN (National Policy & Legal Analysis Network to Prevent Childhood Obesity) Joint Use Resources , including checklists for developing joint-use agreements, model joint-use agreements, primers on liability, etc.
- Unlocking the Playground: Achieving Equity in Physical Activity Spaces from the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network



What experiences, if any, do you or other members of your coalition have working with school districts to craft joint-use agreements?

Making Schools Active Schools: Connecting with Local Schools and School Boards

Nov. 16 Teleconference Highlights

What's going on in schools?
DPI is working on improving physical activity opportunities in schools using a variety of strategies, including:

• Physical Education Requirements
• Active Schools
• Movin' and Munchin' Schools
• Health Education Standards

Each of these areas offers opportunities to coalitions to interact with schools. Some examples include:

• Assessing the school board's knowledge of and attitudes toward programs and/or policies related to physical activity
• Educating school board members on available resources (e.g. Active Schools toolkit or training on active recess strategies)
• Encouraging districts to review policies and plans reguarly to improve implementation

What's going on in Active Schools pilot sites?
Active School pilot sites are up and running in 21 sites across the state.

• Schools have collected Activity Logs from students and sent fitness assessment results to the state
• Coalitions have collaborated with schools on disseminating communication materials about district efforts, assisted with surveys and program planning, and assisted with programs

How can our coalition connect and work with schools on policy issues?
All Active Schools coalitions are asked to connect with local school districts, here are some tips for getting started:

1) Consider which districts you have already worked with.

2) Questions to think about when approaching a school …

• What does our coalition want from schools as part of a partnership effort?
• What can our coalition offer schools as part of a partnership effort?
• How does Active Schools fit the educational mission of the schools?

3) Conduct an assessment of your selected district to understand what they already are doing related to physical activity policies in their district. Some ideas of places to start include:

• Request a copy of your School Wellness Policy
• Interview with school district contact on your coalition or a school official (local policymaker assessment) – what might encourage the district to initiate an Active Schools policy?
• Understand the context of your selected district:
  - Who are the key education leaders in your district?
  - If school board action is necessary, what are the best ways to approach individual board members and/or the board as a whole?
  - Who do your district’s key leaders and school board members need to hear from?

Teleconference Share Back!
Help and learn from each other by leaving a comment responding to the following question:

How will you connect with your school district in the next month?

Coalition Building Tip: What is your coalition's strength?

Throughout the course of the Active School Initiative, coalitions are expected to implement a least two strategies to build or strengthen the capacity of the coalition. Here are some tips to help your coalition accomplish the strategies suggested in the grant guidelines. Need to review the grant guidelines? You can find them on www.healthinpractice.org/project/Active-Schools.

Assessing the capacity of your coalition will help you identify strengths, weaknesses and gaps. One way to assess your capacity, is using the Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity Program's Coalition Self-Assessment Tool.

The survey will take about 30 minutes to complete. At the end of this assessment you can print a report with your coalition "score," which will indicate your relative level of resources.

A description of the categories and values for the Coalition Self-Assessment Tool and the resulting score is also available. A pdf version of the Coalition Self-Assessment Tool can also be downloaded to make it easier to fill in the tool as a group, before entering your answers online.

Candidate Education: Obesity is a Top Wisconsin Killer

How has your coalition used the Obesity is a Top Wisconsin Killer candidate education piece that was shared at the Oct. 19 and 20th coalition training?

As a reminder, we suggested three ways you could use the education piece:

1. Educate your community

• Use it to recruit new members
• Use it to inspire your current coalitions members
• Integrate it into your current activities

2. Educate your policymakers

• Use it for in-person visits
• Use it, along with a letter, to introduce your coalition to policymakers

3. Media advocacy

• Use it to craft letters to the editor
• Take it to an editorial board visit
• Share with local media

Registration open for Dec. 9 Advocacy Training

Registration is now open for the Dec. 9 Coalition Advocacy Training!!

Purpose: To strengthen coalition capacity to promote healthy eating and active living through state-level and local-level educational advocacy tactics, including media advocacy, educating key local and state decision makers, and community engagement.

Details
WHO: Active Schools grantees (plan to send 3-4 coalition members)

DATE: Thursday, December 9, 2010

TIME: 9 a.m.-3 p.m. (updated time)

LOCATION: Holiday Inn Hotel & Convention Center, 1001 Amber Ave., Stevens Point, WI, 54482

REGISTRATION: Please register your coalition participants by Nov. 11 at https://doa.wi.gov/DHSSurveys/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=78MLn8l5

ACCOMODATIONS: For those of you who will need overnight accommodations, we have a block of rooms reserved at the Holiday Inn at the state rate. To reserve a room …
1. Call the hotel directly at 715-344-0200
2. Call the reservation hotline at 1-888-HOLIDAY
3. Visit the link below:
WI Department of Health Services
If you cannot click the link, copy and paste the following:
http://ichotelsgroup.com/redirect?path=rates&brandCode=HI&GPC=DHS&hotelCode=STEAA&_PMID=99801505

When making reservations, please reference WI Department of Health Services or group code: DHS

Please reserve your room by Wednesday, Nov. 17.

The Big Picture: Obesity Prevention Projects in Wisconsin

Wisconsin has a lot of exciting obesity prevention work going on right now. Here is a sampling of what's happening.

NPAO Local Implementation Grants: 13 counties have been awarded Local Implementation Grants and are getting started with a variety of projects including:

• Buffalo and Pepin counties are working together on a planning grant to create a unified bi-county nutrition and physical activity coaliton. The counties have collaborated successfully in the past and share rural characteristics.
• In an effort to increase healthy adult role models in their communities, Waupaca County's NuAct Coalition is expanding its Working on Wellness effort with businesses and adults in their places of work. The project will survey past participants to determine successful components of the Wisconsin Worksite Wellness Toolkit and how it contributed to their companies' successful wellness plan, then use the data to improve their facilitation of the toolkit use in other businesses.

Communities Putting Prevention to Work

Active Schools: 21 school sites across the state are piloting strategies from the Active School Toolkit to offer 60+ minutes of physical activity a day.

• Deerfield's Active Schools efforts made the news in early October with an activity that brought 400 people out to walk for an hour with pedometers prior to a high school football game.
• Osceola Middle School and Oakfield Elementary School have begun implementing Active Recess strategies and have reported postive responses from students.
• The Department of Public Instruction held workshops in October on Creating an Active Recess and Increasing Activity in the Classroom.

Active Early: Promoting Physical Activity in Early Care and Education Baseline data was collected in October at the 20 child care sites that are piloting strategies to incorporate 120 minutes of physical activity each day. Providers will be trained in November on how to use the Active Early Toolkit: Promoting Physical Activity in Early Care and Education.