Community Programs
Around the country, many communities have launched innovative programs to combat obesity and encourage exercise and healthful eating. The most successful programs reach out to many community groups: educators, physicians, health care providers, childcare providers, children and parents.
Tools from the CDC
The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention have compiled recommendations for community programs designed to increase physical activity among young people:
http://www.cdc.gov/
mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00046823.htm
Tools from NIH and the Department of Health and Human Services
We Can! (Ways to Enhance Children’s Activity & Nutrition) is a national education program to help children ages 8 to 13 stay at a healthy weight. The program offers tips and resources for encouraging healthy eating, increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary behavior.
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/
health/public/heart/obesity/wecan/index.htm
Hundreds of communities across the United States and elsewhere have used this program to take creating healthier hometowns. Here are some examples:
- Alabama
Department of Public Health
- Benton
County (OR) Healthy Weight and Lifestyle Coalition
- Boston
Public Health Commission, Boston Steps
- City
of Tamarac (FL) Parks and Recreation Department
- Gary
(IN) Youth Services Bureau and Park Recreation
- Lane
Coalition for Healthy Active Youth (Eugene, OR)
- Montgomery
County (MD) Department of Recreation
- Operation
Better Start (Pittsfield, MA)
- Project
Healthy Schools (Ann Arbor, MI)
- Roswell
(GA) Recreation and Parks Department/Athens-Clarke (GA) County Leisure
Services
- Scott & White
Memorial Hospital and Clinic (Temple, TX)
- South
Bend (IN) Parks and Recreation Department
- University
of Nevada Las Vegas Department of Nutrition Sciences/City of Henderson
Department of Parks and Recreation
- Springfield-Greene County (MO) Park and Recreation