Posts Tagged ‘obesity prevention’

Empower Conference

April 18th, 2013

Our Empower program is hosting its second annual conference Empowering Habits, Empowering Lives: Super Heroes in Action on May 4.  The conference is a great opportunity for providers in Early Care and Education settings to learn the new 10 Empower standards that have been established for 2013.  The conference sessions will also equip participants with the resources and tools essential to implement the 10 standards, thus transforming them into super heroes in action!  Check out the conference flyer for more details.

 

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Posted in Licensing, Prevention

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Energize Our Borders

October 9th, 2012

I just got back from this year’s (30th annual) United States-Mexico Border Governor’s Conference in Albuquerque- called “Energize Our Borders”.  It was an opportunity to further strengthen the ties of friendship, security, and economic prosperity among the 10 states that comprise our United States-Mexico border region.  The Conference is made up of 7 worktables including Agriculture and Livestock; Competitiveness; Sustainable Development; Education; Logistics and International Crossings; Health and Emergency Management; and Border Security. 

As part of my job, I’m your delegate to the Health and Emergency Management Worktable. I worked with my counterpart and good friend, Dr. Bernardo Campillo, the Secretario de SaludPublica, for Sonora (along with delegates from the other 8 states) this week on action items for our 3 joint recommendations: 

  • Strengthen our relationship with the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission in order to better target the prevention of obesity among children and adolescents and to leverage their knowledge and experience in identifying best practices and promote them in the region.
  • Explore methods for program outreach and development related to reducing substance abuse through prevention and treatment programs and improving knowledge on healthy living; reducing vehicular childhood injuries; and highlighting opportunities to promote Medical Tourism.
  • Work with our federal authorities to establish a framework to support cross-border emergency mutual aid, and provide for the cooperation of states, counties and cities during emergencies and natural disasters.

We’ll execute the joint recommendations over the next year using specific action items.  For example: Arizona and Sonora have been focusing on reducing vehicular childhood injuries by exploring how we could use the Safe Kids model bi-nationally, since Safe Kids Mexico now exists and is actively looking at how to develop their state programs. Thursday I gave a presentation about how we use Safe Kids here in Arizona and perhaps how the work that Arizona and Sonora is doing could be used as a model for the other states along the border.

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Outstanding Dietitians

July 10th, 2012

Registered Dietitians are on the front lines of our battle against obesity.  They work everyday to help people understand the importance of balancing diet and exercise – not necessarily an easy task in this junk-food, drive-thru world.  Some of them are really good at it – including our own Adrienne Udarbe and Maricopa County’s Trudes Rodriquez.  The Arizona Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recognized their work at its annual meeting in June.

Adrienne was honored as the Emerging Dietetics Leader for 2012. Her work in the Champions for Change -Communities Putting Prevention to Work project demonstrated her leadership in mobilizing community networks to create sustainable changes to support healthy eating and active living throughout Arizona. She also represents the Arizona Academy as the Let’s Move Coordinator for Arizona and is known for the creativity and enthusiasm she brings to her work in the field of dietetics.

Trudes Rodriquez from tTrudes Rodrigues & Lynn Laddhe Maricopa County Department of Public Health was chosen as the Recognized Young Dietitian of the Year for the Academy’s Central District. Trudes is the Coordinator for the WIC Dietetic Internship and led the Coma Bien, Estar Bien Supermarket Program in collaboration with Food City stores. She also directed the county’s Women Together for Health Program that empowered women to make positive changes through nutrition and physical activity to prevent chronic disease. Since becoming an RD, Trudes has also earned an MBA, achieved certification in Adult Weight Management, has become a personal fitness trainer, breastfeeding counselor, and eating coach. 

True public health professionals.

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Schoolyards Opening Up

April 11th, 2012

One of the things I’ve always been jazzed about is coming up with simple and easy policy interventions to drive public health change.  The Governor signed a bill that’s a good example.  SB1059 addresses liability concerns of schools when opening outdoor facilities to the public outside of the school day. This is a critical first step to making it easier for schools to open playgrounds to the public so children have more places to play and be physically active. Nice.

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Childhood Obesity Assessment Grant

June 16th, 2010

Congratulations to our Bureau of Nutrition and Physical Activity for their grant award announced this month from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials Leadership for Healthy Communities program.  Over the coming year, we’ll be strengthening our capacity to make a dent in childhood obesity by conducting a health impact assessment to prevent childhood obesity in Arizona.

We’ll be working with Maricopa County to develop a health impact assessment that locals can access in their land use decisions- helping communities to make development and land use decisions that better support healthy eating and active living.  Communities will be able to voluntarily sign up for the process which will help them look at options like sidewalks, bike paths and green areas to promote physical activity and community gardens to increase access to fresh locally grown fruits and vegetables.

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How to Live 12 Years Longer

April 30th, 2010

This week the Archives of Internal Medicine published the results of a 20-year lifestyle study on 4886 people in the UK between 1985 and 2005.  The study compared mortality rates among the group and analyzed longevity’s relationship to behavior.  The study compared people that had various bad behaviors- allocating 1 point for: 1) smoking; 2) not eating enough fruits and vegetables consumed; 3) getting less than 2 hours physical activity per week; and 4) drinking more than 14 ounces of alcohol (in women) and 21 ounces (in men).

During the study period, people with 1 bad behavior were 1.85 times more likely to die than those with all good behaviors, people with 2 bad behaviors were 2.23 more likely to die,  people with 3 were 2.76 times more likely, and people with 4 bad behaviors were 3.49 X more likely to perish during the study.  People that had 4 bad behaviors had a mortality risk equivalent to being 12 years older (than the good behavior group).

The study concluded that “The combined effect of poor health behaviors on mortality was substantial, indicating that modest, but sustained, improvements to diet and lifestyle could have significant public health benefits.”… but you already knew that, didn’t you.

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Pima Nabs Big Obesity Prevention Grant

March 22nd, 2010

Pima County will receive a $16 million grant as part of the national Communities Putting Prevention to Work efforts funded through the federal Stimulus program.  They’ll be creating a community-wide set of strategies and interventions to reduce obesity by ensuring safe, attractive accessible places for physical activity and making healthy foods available, accessible, and affordable.

The initiative is building on the established work of Activate Tucson, a large, multi-disciplinary, multi-agency, community-based coalition.  Activate Tucson and its member organizations have a strong track-record of success in developing policy and programs to combat obesity. Take a look at the kinds of accomplishments already achieved by this organization.  Congrats to Elizabeth Temple and her team in Pima County for siezing this highly competetive grant.

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Healthier US Schools Challenge Program

March 10th, 2010


 

The federal Healthier US Schools Challenge Program establishes rigorous standards for schools’ food quality, participation in meal programs, physical activity, and nutrition education – key components that make for healthy and active kids – and provides recognition for schools that meet these standards.

In the next school year, the USDA’s goal is to double the number of schools that meet the Healthier US Schools Challenge.  Schools can participate in this model program by going to http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/healthierus/index.html and learning about the range of educational and technical assistance materials that promote key aspects of the Dietary Guidelines, including a Menu Planner for Healthy School Meals, which provides tips on serving more whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, and lower amounts of sugar, sodium, and saturated and trans-fats in school menus.

In addition, major school food suppliers have agreed to meet the Institute of Medicine’s recommendations (mentioned in the yesterday’s blog) within 5 years to decrease the amount of sugar, fat and salt in school meals; increase whole grains; and double the amount of produce they serve.

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