Leaders Encouraging Activity and Nutrition
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Greetings!
Find out what's happening in California to address the obesity epidemic through Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) initiative. California Project LEAN's enews will keep you updated quarterly on the work that is being done by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), San Diego, and Los Angeles counties to address nutrition, physical activity, and obesity. We will share resources and tools as they become available to help you in your efforts to prevent and/or reduce obesity. Read on to find out more about what to expect in the upcoming year. |
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CPPW Grants Fund Obesity Prevention Efforts in California
 It was exciting news for California when the Centers for Disease Control's CPPW grants, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, were announced in March. Los Angeles, San Diego, and Santa Clara counties received record funding: a total of $55.1 million over the next two years to address obesity and tobacco prevention. The three counties were among 44 grantees chosen from 263 eligible applicants nationwide to share the $373 million in total grants. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health was awarded $32.1 million, the largest single grant in the nation, with a nearly equal split between obesity prevention and tobacco cessation and control activities. San Diego County Health & Human Services Agency received $16.1 million for obesity prevention activities, and the Santa Clara Public Health Department received $6.9 Million for tobacco prevention only.
Additionally, CDPH received $2.2 million for both obesity and tobacco prevention support from CPPW. More than $119 million in funding was provided to 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and six Pacific territories to focus on efforts to help communities and schools through a variety of methods, including using media to support healthy food and beverage choices and increased physical activity and increasing access to healthy choices and safe places to be active. Awards will also support efforts to increase tobacco cessation through quit lines and media campaigns.
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CDPH Builds on Current Obesity Prevention Efforts
 CDPH's CPPW funding will be used for obesity prevention efforts, including reducing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and increasing access to joint use of school facilities. As CDPH's SSB lead, CPL will focus on increasing access to healthy beverages and limiting access to SSBs through policy initiatives. CPL will work with local partners to enhance and expand the work of the Soda Free Summer campaigns and move more Californians to "Rethink their Drinks." A minimum of three California communities, to be announced this month, will receive $25,000 grants to adopt local policies that support these efforts and educate key stakeholders on the issues. Check out the program's fact sheet, Decreasing Access to Sugar-Sweetened Beverages. CPL, in partnership with CDPH's Safe and Active Communities Branch, is collaborating with State joint use leaders to develop tools and sample policies and provide training and technical assistance that supports joint use policy. To help aid in the joint use effort, five $20,000 community grants will be announced in September. This initiative will help lay the ground work to advance state and local policies that increase equitable access to safe and attractive school facilities outside of the school day for physical activity and recreation. Click here to learn more about CDPH's joint use work and resources. |
Los Angeles County Public Health Department Seeks to Reduce Obesity in Disadvantaged Communities
Los Angeles County (LAC) is the most populous local public health jurisdiction in the state (10.4 million residents), spans more than 4,000 square miles, and includes 88 cities, a large unincorporated area, and 81 school districts. Obesity rates are rising in the county among adults (from 14.3% in 1997 to 22.2% in 2007), school-aged children (from 18.9% in 1999 to 23.1% in 2008 among 5th, 7th, and 9th grade public school students), and younger children (from 16.7% in 2003 to 21.8 in 2008 among children 3-4 years of age receiving WIC services). In addition, marked disparities in obesity rates are seen across the county. For example, the obesity rate among school-aged children in 2007 ranged from a low of 4% in the affluent City of Manhattan Beach to a high of 34% in the predominantly low-income City of Bell Gardens located less than 20 miles away. LAC's Project RENEW (Renew Environments for Nutrition, Exercise and Wellness), a CPPW initiative, seeks to implement policy, systems, and environmental changes to improve nutrition, increase physical activity, and reduce obesity, especially in disadvantaged communities. Read more about the LA County Department of Public Health's work with a broad range of community, city, and school partners to implement a range of strategies over the course of the next two years. "In order to have a measureable impact, we must expand our efforts beyond health education and medical services, as important as these are, to also include a focus on the environments in which people live and work," said Paul Simon, MD, MPH, Director of Public Health Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention. "Some of those changes will include working with school districts to expand physical education and improve school meals, cities and communities to increase access to healthy foods and public spaces for physical activity, and employers to establish policies and programs that promote physical activity and healthful eating. We want to build healthier lives, starting from the ground up." |
San Diego CPPW Grant Supports County's 10-Year Health Plan
 San Diego County is the third most populous county in the state (behind Los Angeles and Orange Counties), with three million residents living in an area of more than 4,500 square miles. In addition, San Diego County is part of the San Diego-Tijuana metropolitan area, the largest bi-national metropolitan area shared between the U.S. and Mexico, with more than five million people. The county encompasses 18 cities and a large unincorporated area, 42 school districts, 747 schools, and 497,000 students in grades K-12.
The 2009 San Diego Report Card on Children and Families revealed that nearly 30% of children in the 5th, 7th, and 9th grades are overweight or obese. This is troubling because research has shown that obese children have a higher risk of becoming overweight or obese adults. In San Diego County, approximately 55% of adults (1.2 million people) are overweight or obese. San Diego's CPPW grant will be used to implement evidence-based nutrition and physical activity initiatives that impact system, policy, and environmental change. Read more about these initiatives. "This grant represents a unique opportunity for us to work on projects that support the County's ten-year health strategy agenda," said HHSA Director Nick Macchione. "The overall return on investment is improved quality of life. Better health and less chronic diseases at the individual level leads to lower health care costs for the community as a whole." "It's important to remember that a poor diet, lack of physical activity, and smoking are three behaviors which contribute to the four major chronic diseases that are responsible for more than 50 percent of deaths right here in our community," said Wilma Wooten, MD, MPH, San Diego County Public Health Officer. "Preventing disease is possible." |
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Childhood Obesity Conference
Pre/Post Meeting
Space Available Mark you calendar for the 6th Biennial Childhood Obesity Conference, June 28-July 1, 2011 in San Diego. Partners can reserve pre- and post-conference meeting space at the Hyatt Hotel for groups ranging from 40 -200 people. This beautiful beachfront setting is an ideal venue for trainings and meetings.
Pre-Conference (June 28, 2011) space is available from 8am-12pm and
post-conference space (July 1, 2011) is available 8am - 5pm.
Please contact Ces Murphy at 916-445-9066 or email her for more information on costs, availability, and options.
For more information
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| Upcoming Events
June 28-July 1, 2011
(San Diego) |
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