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Welcome to the inaugural edition of the Healthy King County newsletter. Each month, we'll provide you updates on the good work of Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) funded projects across King County, as well as policy updates related to tobacco and obesity prevention, local education campaigns and links to recent news articles. Please share with your colleagues and let us know if you have any feedback or suggestions. |
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Camel uses Seattle to sell cigarettes |
Camel brand cigarettes, which is owned by RJ Reynolds (RJR), has launched a new marketing campaign to recruit young smokers that exploits the image and vitality of the Seattle area to sell a highly addictive, deadly product.
 | | Camel's Seattle cigarette pack depicts iconic sites including Pike Place Market & Mt. Rainier. |
Cause for concern This "Break Free Adventure" campaign is using iconic images from Seattle and nine other cities to sell their cigarettes. The campaign exploits our city's vibrant and alternative culture in an attempt to make Camel cigarettes appear cool, fun and rebellious - themes which resonate with youth.
Exposure to campaigns like this increases the chance that a young person will start smoking. This poses a significant threat to our local and national tobacco prevention efforts.
"We've cut the smoking rate in half in just the last decade in King County, and it has proved its worth in lives and money saved. We can't take a step backward by allowing predatory marketing campaigns to lure kids into tobacco addiction," said King County Board of Health Chair Julia Patterson.
Advocates call on RJR to end campaign
Many tobacco prevention and control groups and organizations, as well as elected officials, are outraged by this campaign and are demanding that RJR end this promotion immediately. In their statement, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids describes this campaign as evidence that RJR "has not changed" and "is continuing its longstanding efforts to make the Camel brand appealing to youth." In a letter sent directly to RJR, the National Association of Attorney Generals asks that the campaign be terminated immediately "out of concern for America's youth."
Local and state officials also voiced opposition to this campaign. Governor Christine Gregoire released a statement calling on RJR to "halt their cynical campaign and not use our local landmarks for their gain." Other political leaders including King County Executive Dow Constantine and Board of Health Chair Julia Patterson released statements echoing her sentiments.
Public Health - Seattle & King County demands that Camel end this campaign immediately. We invite our community partners to join us in this effort. Ways to take action include:
- Write a letter directly to R.J. Reynolds
- Educate others about the dangers of this type of campaign via letters to the editor, op-eds, blogs, etc.
- Sign this petition.
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| Sugar-loaded beverages campaign | |
Public Health has recently launched a new campaign to educate county residents about the health impacts of consuming sugar-loaded beverages. And we need your help getting the word out!
The new education campaign is aimed at parents and features local online ads, a new video in English and Spanish, and downloadable posters in seven languages. The campaign builds on materials developed in New York City.
What can you do to help spread the word? Share the video with your friends and families via email or Facebook. Reach out to your friends and colleagues who work in schools, physician's offices, day care centers or other places with lots of kids to make sure they've seen the downloadable posters. Let your friends and neighbors know about the new campaign.
Sugar-loaded beverages are exactly what they sound like: drinks with added sugars such as soda pop, sweetened vitamin water, energy drinks and sweetened fruit drinks. These sugars translate into "empty" calories without any nutritional value that our bodies don't need. These calories can lead to weight gain and long-term health problems, including Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.
Nearly one in three children in middle and high school in King County is overweight or obese. Sugar-loaded beverages pose potential health risks for kids, including overweight and obesity, tooth decay, and osteoporosis and brittle bones.
What should people drink instead? Public Health recommends water and 1% or non-fat milk.
Click here for more information. |
| Seattle churches use CPPW funds to create a legacy of health | |
Pastors are taking an active role learning about and advocating for policy changes to promote health in their churches.
On Tuesday, Nov. 16, pastors from the six churches working on the CPPW project "Moving Together in Faith and Health" met at the Douglass Truth Library in central Seattle. Churches funded through CPPW to promote the well being of their congregations include First A.M.E., Tabernacle Missionary Baptist, Immaculate Conception, New Direction Baptist, Goodwill Missionary Baptist and Mt. Zion Baptist. These six churches serve mostly African American populations and a large percentage of persons from working class and fixed-income backgrounds.
Church pastors, church leaders and Dr. Doris Boutain from the University of Washington's School of Nursing collaboratively developed the idea to work directly with pastors, "church change teams," and Schools of Nursing at the University of Washington, Seattle University, and Seattle Pacific University. The goal is to build support for healthy eating and active living environments by developing and implementing policies. These policies will encourage nutritious snacks and meals, and increased opportunity for physical activity and play. Changes will benefit children, youth, adults and families.
Each church change team includes two youth, a lead from the health ministry, a lead cook/chef, and a lead from the children/youth program. Pastors provide leadership and encouragement to the church change teams by championing recommended changes.
Early accomplishments of this CPPW project include two churches removing soda machines within the first few months of grant implementation. Congratulations to Goodwill Missionary Baptist and New Direction Missionary Baptist!
Read more about this project in a recent article in the Seattle Times. For more information about this project please contact Dr. Doris Boutain.
 | | Dr. Jim Kreiger, Public Health, addresses change teams (credit Storms Photographic) |
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CPPW projects hard at work to improve nutrition and physical activity at child care centers |  A CPPW-funded project through the Coalition for Safety and Health and Early Learning (C-SHEL) is working to adopt stricter standards for nutrition, physical activity and screen time with child-care centers run by the City of Seattle and the Seattle Housing Authority. The enhanced standards will provide more detail about how to put together healthy meals for children in child-care centers. Right now the regulations are vague, requiring only that dairy, grain, and fruit and/or vegetables be served at every meal.
The City of Seattle is also surveying their staff about attitudes and thoughts around nutrition standards. C-SHEL has been training staff to help train others on implementing nutrition, physical activity and screen-time policies. C-SHEL is also looking best practices in other states, limiting juice intake, and regulating screen time.
Further, the CPPW child care work group has been active, currently thinking about how to revise regulations for healthy child-care settings. |
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| CPPW in King County | |
Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) is a national initiative to prevent chronic disease and promote health through policy, systems and environment changes.
In spring 2010, Public Health - Seattle & King County was awarded two CPPW grants from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one for tobacco prevention ($9.9 million) and the other for obesity prevention ($15.5 million). Obesity and tobacco use contribute to the leading causes of death in our region. |
Public Health awarded most of the CPPW dollars to external partners, such as school districts, media organizations, community-based agencies, and local governments. Our partners are implementing long lasting changes that improve nutrition and physical activity and decrease tobacco use and exposure. Ultimately, these changes will make King County a place where the healthy choice is the easy one, and the unhealthy one difficult. This will reduce chronic diseases and potentially millions of dollars in medical spending. The focus is on the communities with the greatest needs. |
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Get Connected |  | |
HealthyKingCounty.org is a new online tool provided by Public Health - Seattle & King County for CPPW partners to network, share resources and calendars and stay up-to-date on current CPPW work.
Through the new website, you can find out about CPPW projects throughout King County, identify who is working on similar issues, and discuss ideas and challenges. You'll also find a range of resources.
Need some expert assistance with your CPPW project? Check out the CPPW Technical Assistance Guide to find out what help is available to you. Want posters in Chinese from the sugar-loaded beverage campaign? They are available in six languages in the Resources section. Even better, share some of the work you're doing by posting to the site or uploading materials that you've developed.
Join us for a webinar on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2011 from 10-11 a.m. for additional training on using the site. You can access the webinar from any location where there's a phone and online access. For more information, contact Meredith Li-Vollmer. |
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King County Board of Health votes to regulate
e-cigarettes |  |
On Thursday, Dec. 16, the King County Board of Health voted to approve electronic cigarette regulations, including limiting sales to adults only, prohibiting free samples, and restricting the use of these products in places where smoking is prohibited by law.
Electronic cigarettes are battery-operated devices that deliver vaporized nicotine instead of burning tobacco. These products are available to buy online, at smoke shops and at mall kiosks.
The proposal was brought to the board on behalf of the Tobacco Policy Committee, which is supported by CPPW Tobacco Prevention staff. |
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