In early April 2013 Lakeview Community Schools added salad bars, called fruit and vegetable bars because of their various offerings, at not only their junior and senior high schools, but also at some of their elementary schools. These salad bars help increase the consumption of fruits and vegetable for young students. Without salad bars, students are only given a certain option for fruits and vegetables, resulting in many foods being wasted. Often times young students who do not like a food or cannot eat it due to lost teeth or lack of ability (example: young students often do not know how to peel oranges or other fruits that are prepped at homes by parents) will throw away foods, not getting any of the nutrients they need from those foods. "Fourth-grader Cassie Rathbone had applesauce ...
Through a Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities grant, members of the Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program (CCROPP), and Ceres Partnership for Healthy Children worked throughout the Central Valley of California, to create initiatives to improve access to healthy foods and safe places for physical activity. CCROPP also developed an innovative grassroots community leadership program, so that Latinos could feel better equipped for becoming active leaders in their community. This video describes some of the challenges that residents living in the Central Valley face and demonstrates some of the work that CCROPP is doing to transform ordinary parents into leaders of their community. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGpX3LQn_RI Program coordinators at CCROPP talk about the ...
During the 83rd Texas Legislative Session Rep. Diane Patrick (R-Arlington) introduced a bill (H.B. 1018), that would require Texas public schools to create a campus improvement plan with goals to improve physical activity and fitness. Campus improvement plans would be required to include goals to increase physical activity and fitness among students; student fitness assessment data, and would require all school health advisory councils (SHAC) to establish a physical activity and fitness planning subcommittee. Once implemented, the bill would require SHACs to include recommendations made by the physical activity and fitness subcommittee, in a annual written report. The full text to H.B. 1018, which would require a campus improvement plan to improve physical activity and fitness at Texas ...
Fernando Martinez of BikeTexas faced several challenges in bringing the Safe Routes to School Program (SRTS) to the children of Amarillo, Texas. The first time that Martinez approached school administrators they did not buy-in to the idea of SRTS. After partnering with members of a local bike club--Martinez was able to bring the concept before school administrators once again--but this time he was able to demonstrate support from the community. Soon afterward, Martinez was invited to speak at a PTA meeting where parents expressed their interest in the SRTS program. As the community became more aware of SRTS, parents and teachers wanted to learn more about how they could enable kids to participate in SRTS. The number of schools and children participating in BikeTexas' SRTS program ...
Although, the state of California has already adopted a statewide Complete Streets policy (AB1358), barriers to adopting and implementing local Complete Streets policies still exist. In order to ensure that maximal benefits are derived from a this type of policy it is necessary to understand how to overcome barriers, and why local Complete Streets policies are necessary. In the San Diego region, up to one-third of residents in low-income neighborhoods lack access to a car. It is residents like these that may stand to benefit the most from Complete Streets policies---which would reduce the economic burden of health costs, by providing safer avenues for walking and biking. The June 2012 report--From Policy to Pavement: Implementing Complete Streets in the San Diego Region--produced through ...
Schools across the country are getting excited about Fuel Up to Play 60 a school based initiative--organized through the National Football League (NFL) and the National Dairy Council (NDC)--that encourages students in grades K-12 to eat healthy foods, participate in at least 60 minutes of daily physical activity, and to lead school wellness initiatives. As of 2012, the group reported that 11 million students in 73,000 schools nationwide were participating in the program which uses social marketing and a six-step approach to improve student health. Fuel up to Play 60's six-steps to improving school health are: Join the League- register on-line and spread the word about Fuel Up to Play 60;
Build Teams and Draft Players- get other students or even the whole school involved;
Kickoff- ...
The Indianapolis community knows first hand how obesity and hunger are linked. 40 percent of children in the city are overweight or obese, but at the same time 1 in 5 people in Indianapolis don't know where their next meal will come from. A group of city nonprofits want to change that by forming the Indy Food Council. Similar to councils in other cities, the Indy Food Council will act as a governing body for the city’s food system, addressing persistent problems, such as food deserts in the urban areas, plus capitalizing on opportunities for economic development. The council hopes to bring together folks who are already trying to bring better food into neighborhoods, like food banks, urban garden advocates, health officials and academics. The Indy Food Council, with its board of 18 to ...
In 2012, the city of Indianapolis signed a Complete Streets proposal which will modify city code once implemented. The Complete Streets Coalition has rated Indianapolis' Complete Streets Policy as the best policy of the year. The ordinance will ensure that both public and private developments consider the transportation needs of all users when developing new land or road projects. The success of this policy will be measured based on a number of performance measures outlined in the policy. The total miles of bike lances, total feet of new pedestrian accommodations, and rate of children walking or biking to school, are all examples of specific measures that will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of this policy on a quarterly and annual basis. More information This article from the ...
Alice Independent School District (Alice ISD) entered into a joint use agreement with Migrant Health Promotion Inc. on November 26, 2012. The joint use agreement will keep tracks, playgrounds, and walking trails open to the public over the next five years. Through the Transforming Texas initiative, Migrant Health Promotion Inc. was charged with creating physical activity opportunities for the residents of Jim Wells County. Program coordinator for the Transforming Texas initiative, Robert De Leon believes that this shared use agreement will serve to provide recreational facilities to those living in the rural community of Jim Wells County. De Leon also believes that this joint use agreement will guide local policy makers in understanding how environmental changes can impact a person's ...
