Obesity in the News

PE an Unfortunate Casualty of Budget Cuts [Editorial]
Muncie Star Press

May 13, 2011
School programs outside of core academics, such as PE, art and music, are being pitted against each other as they battle to survive. The programs were created not as a luxury, but as a necessity, but inadequate state and federal funding is jeopardizing the development of our children. With our children trending toward obesity and leaving sedentary lifestyles, where the only exercise too many get is texting and working a game console, an argument could be made that PE should be elevated to a core curriculum status.

Schools, State Leaders Tackling Childhood Obesity Epidemic
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
May 27, 2011
Faced with ballooning health care costs, Georgia state leaders, medical providers, schools and others are calling new attention to childhood obesity. Gov. Nathan Deal recently launched the SHAPE initiative -- a statewide program designed to promote fitness and healthy living among Georgia's youth. Starting next school year, districts will give students in physical education classes annual fitness assessments, called Fitnessgrams.

Goodbye Food Pyramid, Hello Dinner Plate
New York Times

May 27, 2011
Whatever you do, don’t call it a pie chart. The Obama administration is about to ditch the food pyramid, that symbol of healthy eating for the last two decades. In its place officials are dishing up a simple, plate-shaped symbol, sliced into wedges for the basic food groups and half-filled with fruits and vegetables.

Appleton Plans to Install 30 Miles of Bike Lanes in Next 15 Years
Appleton Post Crescent
May 21, 2011
Traffic engineers are rolling out a plan that adds bike lanes and routes on 30 miles of city streets over the next 15 years.

What Makes Bad Food So Good? Thoughts on America's Most Obese Region
NPR

May 19, 2011
Holmes County, Mississippi, is the most obese county in Mississippi, the most obese state in America. NPR's Debbie Elliott and filmmaker Dave Anderson of Oxford American reflect on their time there — specifically, on what makes bad food so good.

McDonald's Under Pressure to Fire Ronald
Wall Street Journal

May 18, 2011
More than 550 health professionals and organizations have signed a letter to McDonald's Corp. asking the maker of Happy Meals to stop marketing junk food to kids and retire Ronald McDonald. The letter, slated to run in the form of full-page ads in six metropolitan newspapers around the country on Wednesday, acknowledges that "the contributors to today's (health) epidemic are manifold and a broad societal response is required. But marketing can no longer be ignored as a significant part of this massive problem."

Outagamie County: Press Release for Bike Month

Appleton East and Neenah's Hoover Elementary Gear Up for Bike Month        

Contact: Jennifer Van Den Elzen or Ben Stumpf

Phone: 920-832-4452; 920-284-0917

Email: vandenjl@co.outagamie.wi.us; stumpfbenjamin@aasd.k12.wi.us

May is National Bike Month!  Celebrate this month by biking to work, school, the store, or just leisurely with your family.

Appleton East High School and Hoover Elementary in Neenah are using this month to promote biking and physical activity.  At Appleton East High School, the week of May 23rd is Bike to School Week, and Thursday, May 26th is Bike to School Day. Hoover Elementary will be sponsoring a fun run and bike rodeo on May 27th to celebrate their efforts to build physical activity into their school day.

Both schools are also partnering with local physical activity focused coalitions, the Fitness And Nutrition (FAN) Coalition and Walk to Win, and participating in an Active Schools initiative to get kids up and moving every day and to fight the rising problem of obesity in our nation and state.  Active Schools focuses on environmental or policy changes that can be made in the school setting to help kids meet the recommended 60 minutes of daily physical activity.

“Bike to School Week is a great opportunity for students to get out and ride for fun, fitness or transportation,” said Ben Stumpf, of the Active Schools Grant Team at Appleton East.

Why is this important?

• Physical activity can help children improve their concentration, memory, and classroom behavior.
• Research shows that higher physical fitness is related to higher state academic test scores, higher attendance, and fewer negative school incidents.
• Half of Wisconsin students are getting an F in physical activity recommendations – a grade no parent wants to see.
• Children are increasingly being diagnosed with obesity-related chronic illnesses.
• More than 25% of Wisconsin’s high school students are overweight or obese.

What is being done?

Appleton East and Hoover Elementary are promoting physical activity in the classroom, at recess, at home, and before and after school.  Students have the opportunity to learn the importance of eating healthy and being active. 

Appleton East students and faculty who ride their bikes to school during the week of Monday, May 23 may be able to win prizes, including a bike from Chain Reaction Cyclery of Appleton. Free breakfast will be provided to all participants on Bike to School Day. East High School is also working hard to add more bike parking that is easier to access at the school in order to continue to promote biking year round.

Tips to help keep you safe while biking:

• Keep your bike in proper working order.
• Have your bike checked over by your local bike shop.
• Learn the routine maintenance that needs to be done on your bike.
• Always wear a helmet to protect your head in the event of a crash.
• Ride on the right side of the road, always in the same direction as other traffic.
• Ride as far to the right as practical, not as far right as possible.  Practical means safe and reasonable.
• Obey all stop signs, traffic lights and lane markings.
• Look before you change lanes or signal a turn; indicate your intention, then act.
• Be visible and predictable at all times; wear bright clothing and signal turns.

About the Fitness And Nutrition (FAN) Coalition: FAN grew out of the Outagamie County Community Health Improvement Planning process, which identified nutrition, physical activity and obesity prevention as priority health issues for our county. This collaboration strives to create environments that support and promote healthy eating, daily physical activity, and a healthy weight in the places we live, learn, work and play. We work to build capacity within our community to implement best, evidence-based and promising strategies, identify and enhance communication with non-traditional partners, and create opportunities for program sustainability. In addition to partnering with Appleton East High School on the Active Schools Initiative, the FAN Coalition is working to address rising obesity levels in other schools, the community, and the worksite setting through a variety of partnerships. For more information on the FAN Coalition, or to get involved contact Jennifer Van Den Elzen (vandenjl@co.outagamie.wi.us, 920.832.4452)

About Walk to Win: Walk to Win is an annual community walking program that has been in existence since 2002. The program is heavily promoted to area schools and businesses, but is open to all individuals 5 years of age or older, employed or residing in the counties of Calumet, Outagamie or Winnebago. All participants are challenged to walk 30 minutes a day at least 5 times a week over a 3-month period in the fall. This program is part of the solution to encouraging our citizens to engage in positive behaviors that impact their health. For more information, visit http://www.walktowin.org/.

National Walking Survey

Help America Walks learn more about who walks, and why we walk.  

This survey will take only 5 minutes to complete and results are anonymous.

The National Walking Survey results will help walking advocates understand what motivates avid walkers, and what keeps others from walking more. Once the data is analyzed, America Walks will tell you what we've learned to help promote walking in America. 

For more information, contact America Walks.

 

Click here to take the survey. It's also available through the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals website.

Got Veggies?

The Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity Program, in collaboration with Community GroundWorks, REAP Food Group, UW Extension and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, recently released it's newest garden-based toolkit.

Got Veggies? is a garden-based nutrition education curriculum created with the goal of getting children to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables. Got Veggies? features seven full lesson plans that are aligned with Wisconsin 's Model Academic Standards for Nutrition, Health, Science, and other related subjects.  A series of shorter garden-based activities are also included, as well as fun recipes and helpful tips for cooking and eating in the garden.  This curriculum provides an all around great way to nurture students’ interest in growing and eating fresh fruits and vegetables!

Growing evidence demonstrates that nutrition education used in conjunction with youth gardens positively impacts child and adolescent nutrition. In the midst of a national obesity epidemic, it has never been so important to support children in improving their eating and physical activity habits.

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

Why is eating good food so hard?

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