This week in obesity prevention news.

At last FTC releases principles of food marketing to kids
Marion Nestle on Food Politics
April 28, 2011
The FTC released its long-awaited principles for food marketing to children today. These are proposed principles, scheduled to apply to marketing to children age 2 to 17, to go into effect by 2016. The principles are now open for comment.

Walk-friendly communities offer residents a gas-saving, healthy alternative
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on the Let’s Move! Blog
April 27, 2011
In this time of high gas prices, it’s important that we give Americans options for getting where they need to go. One way to do that is by fostering livable communities where people can choose to leave their cars behind and safely walk where they need to go. To encourage communities to make walking safer, the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) introduced its Walk Friendly Communities program. And yesterday, with support from the Federal Highway Administration and FedEx, the PBIC recognized the first 11 cities to earn that designation for improving walkability and pedestrian safety.

Out Front in the Fight on Fat
Betsy McKay for the Wall Street Journal
April 26, 2011
Portland's program, called "Let's Go!," is one of just a handful of community childhood-obesity programs studying how much change in behavior or weight loss they bring about. Such studies are expensive. Plus, measuring effects of environmental change is difficult, says Bill Dietz, director of the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More programs are starting to measure results, he says.

USDA Encourages Schools to Partner with Local Farms
April Fulton for NPR
April 27, 2011
The U.S. Department of Agriculture just announced a new rule to encourage schools to partner with nearby farms as a way to get more healthy, locally-grown fruits, veggies, and more into school lunches. Agriculture Under Secretary Kevin Concannon says the rule is "an important milestone that will help ensure that our children have access to fresh produce and other agricultural products."

Check out the film Nourish: Food + Community
With beautiful visuals and inspiring stories, the Nourish film traces our relationship to food from a global perspective to personal action steps. Nourish illustrates how food connects to such issues as biodiversity, climate change, public health, and social justice.

Brainstorming for Food Day.

This October 24 will mark the first-ever nationwide Food Day, part of a larger movement to change the way Americans eat and think about food. Food Day aims to bring together people from across the food movement, from foodies, locavores and sustainable agriculture supporters to public health and obesity prevention champions and food security advocates.

Food Day identifies five key areas demanding attention and action:

• Reduce diet-related disease by promoting healthy foods


• Support sustainable farms and cut subsidies to agribusinesses


• Expand access to food and end hunger


• Protect the environment and animals by reforming factory farms


• Promote health by curbing junk-food marketing to kids

Food Day’s partners include Michael Pollan, Alice Walker, Marion Nestle, the American Public Health Association, Campaign for Commercial-Free Childhood, the Community Food Security Coalition, the National Association of County and City Health Officials, the National Farm to School Network, the National WIC Association, the Prevention Institute, and the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. You can find out more about Food Day by visiting FoodDay.org and following Food Day on Facebook.

When it comes to [Food Day] events, imagination is the only limiting factor. We hope for fun, diverse, and action-oriented events in every corner of the country.
– Jennifer Tuttle, Food Day campaign organizer

Tuttle suggested activities ranging from throwing block parties featuring healthy, sustainable foods, convening community forums about national and local food system priorities, and hosting farmers markets in food deserts.

What do we want Food Day to look like here in Wisconsin? Which people and organizations should we engage? What activities and press can we generate around Food Day? How can we make Food Day bigger than one day?

UPDATE: The CDC will host a teleconference with Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, to discuss “Food Day: An Opportunity for Health Officials to Educate and Advocate.” The teleconference is scheduled for May 12 at 12:30PM CST. Please contact Mary Pesik at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services for more information about joining the teleconference.

Recent Poll Shows Parents Want More Physical Activity at School

The University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health asked parents of children 6 to 11 years old for their views about physical activity in schools. The results may surprise you:

"Parents are virtually unanimous that it's very important for elementary-school kids to get physical activity during every school day." says Sarah Clark, MPH, who directed the poll.

A few other key points from the poll:

• Overweight and obese parents were more likely than other parents to view school-time activity as essential for preventing obesity and promoting healthy physical development.


• 35% of parents feel their children's schools have too little time in gym class; 26% think there is not enough equipment on the playground; 22% say there is too little time for recess.


• Parents' responses are especially important given the budget pressures on schools, illustrating that parents value the benefits of physical activity - not only for obesity prevention, but for academic success as well.

See the article

For more information about the poll, visit http://www.med.umich.edu/mott/npch/

"Kids should not be the ones having to pay the price for under-funded prevention programs..."

Read Matt's full testimony in the Wheeler Report!

A sampling of recently released obesity news and resources

Wisconsin
Joint Finance Committee Testimony from Winnebago County’s re:TH!NK Project
Matt Madsen's testimony at the Joint Finance Committee Hearing in Neenah was so powerful, it made the Wheeler Report this week!

National
An Open Letter to President Obama About the Importance of the Prevention and Public Health Fund
Robert Ross for The Huffington Post, April 14, 2011
Health care is a national priority; therefore it requires a national approach. For decades, our health care system has been designed to treat patients once they are sick; now, thanks to the Prevention and Public Health Fund, we are finally beginning to shift to a health care system that will simultaneously prevent and treat sickness. Not only is this approach more affordable, it's more effective. But it will take everyone working together to make it successful.

Where Do Americans Get Their Calories: Infographic
Civil Eats

Getting Physical With Phys Ed
Berkshire Eagle, Amanda Korman, April 14, 2011 Along with [a]new physical education curriculum – which comes from a California-based health program called SPARK (Sports, Play & Active Recreation for Kids) – the [U.S. Department of Education Carol M. White Physical Education Program] grant is going toward changes in school nutrition, exercise equipment and tracking students' progress. The district has dubbed the entire effort "Balancing the Equation," or "physical activity plus proper nutrition equals total health," according to Linda Avalle, the manager of the grant and curriculum coordinator for health and physical education.

Happiness is a Warm Neighborhood: Designing our communities on ‘common ground’ Jay Walljasper for New.Clear.Vision The way we design our communities plays a huge role in how we experience our lives. Neighborhoods built without sidewalks, for instance, mean that people walk less and therefore experience fewer spontaneous encounters, which is what instills a spirit of community to a place.

Wisconsin Complete Streets Network

Guest post written by Julie Logue, Technical Assistance Coordinator for Physical Activity, Communities Putting Prevention to Work program at the WI Department of Health Services.

What if these roads had been constructed with people in mind or Complete Streets? Pedestrians, children, seniors, bicyclists, and people using wheelchairs can safely move along and across a complete street. Bikeable/walkable roads have been shown to reduce injuries to pedestrians, improve air quality and make it possible for our children to be active. Research shows that people who live in neighborhoods with complete streets get an average of 30-45 minutes more exercise per week than those who do not. When roads are made safe for bicycling and walking, more people choose to use them. By improving the “built environment,” communities improve the health of people in their communities as well. While individuals are responsible for their own health, communities can encourage healthy behaviors by the policies they create.

We are lucky to have a strong state Complete Streets Law in Wisconsin, but in La Crosse County, for example, 53% of road projects use local funding and wouldn’t be covered by our state and federal Complete Streets laws. Through the adoption of local complete streets policies, we can create a seamless network of cities, towns, streets and highways that encourage people to walk out their front doors and be active.

To help support Complete Streets, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, in partnership with the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin, has formed a state-wide Complete Streets Network. Complete Streets state-wide networking calls are hosted bi-monthly, and are open to individuals throughout the state who are interested in learning more about the benefits of local Complete Streets policies, and how individuals and organizations can effectively develop Complete Streets initiatives in their communities. To join or learn more about the Complete Streets network, please contact Julie Logue via email at julie.logue@wisconsin.gov. To learn more about La Crosse’s Complete Streets initiative, please contact Jack Zabrowski at zabrowski.jack@co.la-crosse.wi.us. You can follow progress in La Crosse by visiting the “LaCrosse Complete Streets” Facebook page, and/or the GetActive La Crosse website.

Photo from pedbikeimages.org

Opportunity to share your community's obesity prevention projects.

In preparation for the upcoming joint WiPOD/WIPAN summit on June 8, we’d like to invite you to submit a community project summary for a poster highlighting one or more of your community’s obesity prevention projects.

This poster display will be an opportunity for you to showcase the obesity prevention work in each of your communities to coalitions and academic professionals from across Wisconsin. If you need assistance developing a community project summary or brainstorming about your poster—or if you need help printing your poster as June 8 draws closer—please don’t hesitate to let us know!

Linking Research and Community Action:

Tools to Create Healthy People, Healthy Places

Poster Session

An invitation to share your research project or community work.

The Wisconsin Prevention of Obesity and Diabetes (WiPOD) and the Wisconsin Partnership for Activity and Nutrition (WI PAN) would like to invite you to present a poster at our meeting.

When: Wednesday June 8, 2011

Where: Wisconsin Institutes for Medical Research and Health Sciences Learning Center Atrium, UW-Madison Due to the volume of excellent posters at the Poster Session in June 2010, we are requesting community project summaries ahead of time. The deadline for community project summary submissions is April 22, 2011.

Community project summary guidelines: Project summaries should be 250 words or less and should include: Description of the program, target audience, successes and challenges, intended and unintended outcomes, and next steps. Please note that submission of a community project summary does not guarantee a presentation of your poster at the Poster Session.

This event is an excellent opportunity to network and share information about your obesity prevention projects. Please reserve a space for your poster by submitting a community project summary here.

Please contact Gayle Coleman with any questions.

Active Recess

"In the face of this accumulated wisdom, the question is why so many educators across the nation have, in recent years, decided that it is acceptable to reduce or eliminate recess."

The Power of the Playground

By David Bornstein, 

New York Times, April 7, 2011

Tracie Faust, New York Times

Active recess involves purposefully designing the playground and recess activities to encourage physical activity for all students. It also involves including a minimum of 20 minutes of recess each day for students in elementary and middle school. 


Active recess provides children with a guarantee of non-structured play each day, with equipment and supplies needed to be physically active on the playground. It provides some structure to recess and may include several activity stations scattered around the playground and green spaces. It is one of 17 strategies included in the Active Schools Toolkit.  


“Active Recess has had a positive impact on students and staff. Students are more active and staff has noticed a decrease in discipline referrals.” 

Hoover Elementary, Neenah, WI

Manitowoc County CAN and U --> CAN: Public nurses discuss health initiatives with Leibham

Julie Reimer and Amy Storm, public health nurses from Manitowoc and Calumet counties, respectively, discussed the Active Schools Initiative and other health-related issues during a recent visit with state Sen. Joe Leibham.

Coverage in the Herald Times Reporter summarizes the topics covered during the visit. Read the article.

Public Health Trek Across Wisconsin

The Public Health Trek Across Wisconsin is a pre-conference kick-off to the 2011 joint WPHA-WALHDAB Annual Conference in Appleton (May 24-26, 2011 – http://www.wpha.org)

Day 1: Starting in St. Croix Falls State Park (Polk County) on Saturday, May 21st, Public Health Trekkers will run, bike and/or walk through Polk, Barron, Dunn and Western portion of Chippewa counties.

Day 2: May 22nd, Trekkers will enjoy Eastern Chippewa, Clark and Wood counties.

Day 3: May 23rd, the view will include Portage, Waupaca and Outagamie counties, ending in Appleton.

The Trek is a great way to bring awareness to the importance of a personal wellness lifestyle that includes regular physical activity.

To sign up for a segment of the Trek or for more information on how you can participate at home, go to the Public Health Trek blog. http://publichealthtrekacrosswisconsin.blogspot.com/

Even if you don’t live nearby, you are strongly encouraged to join us for a segment of the Trek. If you can’t participate in person, you can cheer on your colleagues who are and/or log your physical activity during these three days on the PH Trek blog at http://publichealthtrekacrosswisconsin.blogspot.com/

Help us reach our goal of 1,000 activity miles logged.

T-shirts available: You can order a Public Health Trek t-shirt for $10. Just go to the PH Trek blog at http://publichealthtrekacrosswisconsin.blogspot.com/

If you have any questions about the Trek itself, please contact Kurt Eggebrecht at the Appleton Health Department at kurt.eggebrecht@appleton.org

(NOTE: Trekkers are responsible for their own food/drink, lodging / transportation and personal safety, including helmets.)

Joint Finance Hearings 2011

Click here to see a larger map.

It is up to the sixteen members of Joint Finance to make budget decisions.  Those decisions can be influenced by what they hear, see and read at their public hearings.  This is a critical opportunity to educate legislators about the economic and health impacts of obesity prevention. 

For a crash course on Joint Finance see our policy advocacy page.

Letter to the Editor: Investing in Prevention

"Investing in prevention programs and policies in Wisconsin communities and work sites will help prevent chronic diseases, improve health and lower health care costs."

Arvid R. "Dick" Tillmar
Whitefish Bay
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Letters, 4/2/11

Read the full letter to the editor.

A sampling of recently released obesity news and resources

Wisconsin

Olympians speak to Waupun students
Beaver Dam Daily Citizen, Hank Snyder, 3/22/11
Focusing on health and wellness, Wisconsin Olympians Casey FitzRandolph and Suzy Favor Hamilton came to Rock River Intermediate School Friday to promote a healthy eating and fitness program called "Movin' and Munchin' Schools.”

UW Population Health “What Works” database now available
What Works is a one stop shop for evidence for policies and programs that influence the multiple determinants of health. This tool can help community leaders, coalitions, and others select the most promising strategies to respond to community health priorities. Visit the remodeled web site at www.whatworksforhealth.wisc.edu. This site has many new features, including:

• A user-friendly interface that makes it easier to find evidence-based policies and practices
• Opportunities to share your knowledge about real life implementation of policies and practices
• Color-coded evidence rating scales
• Printable one page summaries of policies and programs
• A cross walk with Healthiest Wisconsin 2020 focus areas

Nationally
(largely adapted from RWJF News Digest: Childhood Obesity)

Midwestern Market Makeover
A Minnesota Hy-Vee grocery store recently unveiled a special checkout lane that features healthy snacks instead of the usual candy bars, soda, cookies and chips, a new feature that could soon premiere in locations across the country.

Colorado School Exercise Requirement Agreement Reached
Associated Press, Christina Dickinson, 03/29/2011
Colorado lawmakers have reached agreement on a proposal to require daily exercise in elementary schools. House and Senate members agreed early Tuesday to a version of a bill requiring 30 minutes of daily exercise to help address childhood obesity. It could soon be headed to the governor's desk.

Surgeon General Says Obesity Crisis Should Be Addressed Together [Op-Ed]
Washington Post, Regina Benjamin, 03/21/2011
Change starts with the choices we make each day for ourselves and those around us. At the same time, there is a growing consensus that we, as a nation, need to create communities and environments where the healthy choices are the easy choices and the affordable choices.

Virginia Governor Vetoes Physical-Education Mandate, Aimed at Fighting Childhood Obesity
Associated Press, 03/24/2011
Gov. Bob McDonnell has vetoed legislation that would have required Virginia’s public school divisions to require physical education in elementary and middle schools, a measure intended to help combat the childhood obesity epidemic. McDonnell nixed the measure Thursday, calling it an unfunded mandate on localities and agreeing with groups representing school boards, superintendents and localities that urged McDonnell to veto the bill out of concerns about the millions in financial and logistical costs of enacting the legislation.

School Health Programs Get Kids, Community in Shape
Tucson Sentinel, Jorge Salazar, 03/25/2011
In the cafeteria, student council members give green bracelets carrying the message "Go for the Green" to classmates who participate in a spin-the-wheel activity that requires them to answer nutrition questions. Gym classes incorporate lessons on skateboarding, rollerblading and other activities students can do to be active outside of school without joining a team. Some days, the school gets a visit from the Activate Tucson "Moving Van," which is filled with hula hoops, balls and Wii exercise games. It all started when the school adopted a school health advisory council under a program for which Pima County received a $15.75 million grant to fight obesity.