HEAL-SLO Members Walk to School Update



Reminder- The next HEAL-SLO collaboration meeting is November 15th from 2:30-4:30 in the Ag Auditorium. If you need directions please map quest the address 2156 Sierra Way ,San Luis Obispo, CA 93401.

HEAL-SLO Members Walk to School Update

Students and parents walked to school Wednesday morning on October 5th at Pacheco Elementary school in San Luis Obispo, celebrating International Walk To School Day. Over 300 students participated in Walk to School Day at Pacheco Elementary. Students who didn’t want to brave the elements of heavy rains in the morning before school had an opportunity to walk laps around the school soccer field at lunch when the weather cleared up.

The principal at Baywood Elementary in Los Osos decided the rain would affect the numbers of kids who would bike and walk to school, and chose to reschedule the event for the following week. The re-scheduled event at Baywood Elementary brought in over 160 walkers and bikers before school. St. Patricks Catholic school in Arroyo Grande also participated in Walk to School Day with over 100 students walking and or biking to school.

At all three events administrators, PTA members, and volunteers greeted students and parents with prizes and recognition when they walked or biked onto campus.

By walking or riding a bike to school the students made a statement. Each footstep promoted children’s’ health, environmental protection and creating safer walking routes. The terrific thing about Walk to School Day is that it gets a lot of kids and parents out walking to school who might otherwise be driving.  Once they see how easy it is, how safe it is, and how much fun it is, that one day could turn into a year-round habit.

[pic]

Healthy Communities Month is a Success!

The Board of Supervisors proclaimed October as Health Communities Month on October 4th, 2011. Overall the initiative was a success!

[pic]

CAPSLO and Equilibrium Fitness

In our September newsletter we announced that CAPSLO and Equilibrium Fitness have been working on a program to enhance Community Health Center’s (CHC) and CAPSLO’s Project Teen Health (PTH) program at Arroyo Grande High School to improve the quality of health and fitness among local high-school youth.   The program, “Fit Revolution” is essentially a Personal Training Certification for High School aged youth interested in health and fitness. Once “certified” these youth leaders will help to oversee the existing PTH’s after-school 6-week Boot Camp, a fitness and nutrition program aimed at empowering youth at risk for obesity to take charge of their own health and make exercise their priority.  The Fit Revolution program will provide an opportunity for youth to become peer-to-peer fitness leaders, engage in health and fitness at a higher level and provide a certain level of vocational training as well.  Through the generosity of the Robert H. Janssen Foundation and the SLO Community Foundation this collaborative project was awarded a $5,000 grant last month to further develop the project.   Julian Varela at julian@ or call 805.541.1100.

Dairy Council Pledge

Dairy Council of California has been promoting Eat Better, Eat Together Pledge via their Facebook page. Research has found that when families eat meals together, they raise happier, healthier, more successful children.

This fall, they are helping families start or strengthen a commitment to family meals with our Eat Better, Eat Together Pledge at DairyCouncilofCalifornia. The goal is to serve well-balanced meals with all the food groups and eat together as often as possible. After pledging, participants will receive tips and meal suggestions with recipes and can complete a post-pledge survey in November to be entered to win free groceries! Please take the Eat Better, Eat Together Pledge for Family Meals today and share it with parents, teachers and friends who are interested in raising successful children!

Health Connections: Linking Research to Practice, titled “Raising Healthy Eaters: Benefits and Challenges of Gathering Around the Table”

Mary Jo Feeney, Editor-in-Chief, summarizes the importance of family meals for the young child and how the health professional can encourage clients to reap the benefits of eating together, while minimizing the challenges. Dayle Hayes, child nutrition expert, is interviewed and shares her perspective on how to address common mealtime barriers in the home as well as how to support healthy eating in the school environment. We hope this issue will bring you up-to-date on the recent research and give you some fresh ideas on helping your clients implement family meals.  Part two will be available mid-November.

Previous issues of Health Connections can be found at:

Great News for the Y of the USA

The Y of the USA has released and is recommending the adoption of new afterschool healthy eating and physical activity recommendations to improve the health and wellness of our youth during afterschool hours. The Y Exchange National Press recommended standards are outlined for out-of-school programs which include, before and after school programs, day camps, and overnight camps. The standards are listed below:

◦Serving fruits and vegetables (fresh, frozen or canned) as options instead of cake, cookies, candy and chips

◦Offering water as the preferred drink option during snack times instead of juices, punch boxes or soda

◦Dedicating at least 20 percent or at least 30 minutes of morning or afterschool program time to physical activity (60 minutes for a full day program)

Ensuring that daily physical activity time includes aerobic and age-appropriate muscle and bone strengthening and cardio-respiratory fitness activities

In addition, the new standards elevate the importance of training out-of-school program staff on the role of healthy living, physical activity and social supports for healthy behavior.

Denmark Enacts Tax on Fatty Foods

Denmark has instituted a tax on foods that contain more than 2.3% saturated fat such as butter, milk, cheese, pizza, meat, oil, and some processed foods. Consumers will be taxed $3.00 per every 2.2 pounds of saturated fat in a product. The tax was approved by parliament this past spring to curb unhealthy eating habits and increase the life expectancy of Danes. “This is a major development for two reasons: It’s an entire country, and they’ve taken on a particular part of the food supply,” said Kelly Brownell, PhD, Rudd Center Director. Read More

Attacking the Obesity Epidemic by Determining its Cause

If you have gained a lot of unwanted pounds at any time during the last 30-odd years, you may be relieved to know that you are probably not to blame. At least not entirely. Many environmental forces, from economic interests of the food and beverage industries to the way cities and towns are designed, have had an effect on the obesity epidemic. Read more.

Report on Soda Industry

The National Policy & Legal Analysis Network to Prevent Childhood Obesity, a project of Public Health Law & Policy, released a report, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, that examines the soft-drink industry and its marketing practices. Read more.

Local Trainings and Webinars

Don't miss your opportunity to attend the Nutrition Education That Works! SHAPE workshop sponsored by the California Department of Education.

This FREE training will provide skills-based training on how to choose nutrition education curriculum for students, kindergarten through grade twelve, using the 2010 Nutrition Competencies, featured in the Nutrition Education Resource Guide. Please see the attached agenda for detailed program information.

This is your opportunity to receive for free, a copy of the Nutrition Education Resource Guide, Nourish DVD, and other great resources.  Hardcopies of these resources are only available through attendance at this training. You do not need to be a SHAPE agency or a Network sponsored agency to attend.

When: Tuesday December 6, 2011 from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm

Where: Santa Barbara School District, 1st Floor Conference Room

720 Santa Barbara Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101

Registration Information: NEW! Online registration available through the Child Nutrition Information and Payment System (CNIPS). To register for the training go to

ReThinking the Lunchroom: Strategies to Increase Healthier Food Selection & Consumption

Date: October 26, 2011 from 10-11 am PDT

Space is limited. Reserve your Webinar seat now at:

Description: School Nutrition Policy Webinar Series. Please join us for the first in a series of webinars brought to you by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health's RENEW Initiative.

Learning Objectives:

-Learn how research-based lunchroom alterations can influence student's selection and consumption of healthier food items.

-Gain an understanding of how to increase the desirability of less popular, but more nutritious menu items.

-Identify strategies that can help you introduce new, healthy menu items without experiencing a drop in participation.

-----------------------

November 2011

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download