Health & Safety News From GCC of PTAs

Welcome to the 2012-2013 edition of Health & Safety e-news. Note that because we value your time we are trialing an every-other-month schedule. Please give us your feedback! We want this newsletter to be your source of news and inspiration for all things wellness in our local area--but we need your input!

We would especially love to highlight the great things going on in our schools. Please contact me if you are willing to share your achievements, upcoming events, or questions with our readership.

Please welcome Health & Safety Committee member Michele Alvarino! We are still looking for a few more enthusiastic committee members so contact me if you might be interested.

As we head into cooler months enjoy time outdoors with family and friends. You'll hear from us again in chilly December.

In Health,

Nancy Kondracki, MS, RD, LDN

GCC of PTAs Health and Safety Chair

*Article submissions are welcome from any non-profit organization. The deadline is the 5th of each month.

Wellness Resources

Please visit our webpage for Health and Safety Resources and join our e-newsletter. We also ask that you forward this e-newsletter to anyone you know that has an interest in health and safety issues so that they may subscribe as well.

Visit NCPTA's Health & Wellness Resource Page for a variety of useful information.

Eat Smart, Move More NC offers an E-Newsletter. Sign up for monthly tips and tools to help you eat smart and move more every day!

For Healthy Fundraising Ideas visit NoJunkFood.org.

Nutrition Standards for Foods in Schools

Use CDC's fact sheet series as a resource to help develop and support strong nutrition standards for foods and beverages in schools.

Through the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act USDA is making the first major changes in school meals in 15 years. Check out the details.

To promote childhood health and wellness, National PTA created Healthy Lifestyles Month.

Throughout the month of November, PTAs nationwide participate in PTA Healthy Lifestyles Month by conducting programs and events that promote health education, physical activity, and parental involvement.

Knowing that a healthy child can achieve and learn more, PTAs are encouraging families to increase their physical activity, eat fresh fruits and vegetables, develop community oriented physical activity programs and promote healthy lifelong behaviors.

National PTA's Healthy Lifestyles Month has encouraged PTA to get creative and develop clever initiatives that make living healthy fun. For more information visit this site. Then share with us what you have done and you can be featured in this spot in December!

Wellness Grant Opportunities

Our local chef, Keith Gardener, GTCC Culinary arts, has alerted us to a wonderful program, Chefs Move to School. Word is there are more chefs willing and able to work with schools than there are schools signed up in Guilford County. Explore the possibilities if you're interested!

This year the Extension Master Gardeners of Guilford County plans to give ten $250 microgrants to build new school gardens or expand existing gardens. The objective of this grant is to encourage actions and values in school children and their environments that advance the EMG goals of horticultural education, community outreach, promoting healthy eating habits, and sustainability. If you have questions or need an application please contact Theresa Sears via e-mail or call (336) 375-5876. For An Application Packet click here.

To further assist you in educating your students through the garden, we encourage you to get involved with the School Garden Network. At this site we have our upcoming teachers training posted as well as curriculum that has been vetted at other local schools and meets essential standards.

A program of the National Gardening Association is the Subaru Healthy Sprouts Award. To be eligible, a school or organization must plan to garden in 2012 with at least fifteen children between the ages of 3 and 18. The selection of winners is based on the demonstrated relationship between the garden program and education related to environmental, nutrition, and hunger issues in the U.S.Deadline: October 31, 2012.

BCBS is pleased to announce the Healthy Activity Equipment Grant cycle is now open. These equipment-only grants are small (up to $5,000) one-time, one-year grants focusing on projects that result in increased physical activity.

Examples of equipment that may be purchased as a part of a Healthy Activity Equipment Grant include (but are not limited to) the following:

Portable exercise equipment (pedometers, resistance bands, free weights, exercise balls)
Fixed exercise equipment (treadmill, elliptical, stationary bicycle, step machine)
Playground equipment
Portable play equipment (balls, parachutes, bikes/trikes)
Materials to develop a trail or enhance an outdoor learning environment

To Apply Please familiarize yourself with the Healthy Active Communities Focus Area description and eligibility guidelines. Then complete the Equipment Proposal for Healthy Activity Equipment Grants, due October 26, 2012.

Is your school ready to implement salad bars as part of your reimbursable meal? If the answer is Yes! - the Food Services Department should apply for a salad bar package grant from Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools! Visit their website.

Fuel Up to Play 60 strives to raise awareness about childhood obesity. Fuel Up to Play 60 works in conjunction with partners such as USDA and Let's Move! to improve access to proper nutrition and physical activity among students. Fuel Up to Play 60 also offers funding opportunities to schools so they can make lasting improvements for students. Learn more by clicking here.

2012 'Healthy School Makeover' Contest Now Open! YOUR school could win $45,000 in materials, training, and equipment! Click here for details. All entries must be received by October 31, 2012.

The SPARK Grant-Finder Tool is your best resource for locating national and state-specific grants for your physical education, after school, early childhood or coordinated school health program. Grants can be used for curriculum, teacher training, or equipment. Find details here.

H3N2v Risks and Precautions

If you are planning to take the kids to an agricultural fair this fall, please read this information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Pigs can be infected with their own influenza viruses (called swine influenza) that are usually different from human flu viruses. While rare, influenza can spread from pigs to people and from people to pigs. When people get swine flu viruses, it's usually after contact with pigs. This has happened in different settings, including fairs. Right now, the CDC is concerned about a new flu virus that has been found in U.S. pigs and that has infected people too. This virus - called H3N2v - may spread more easily from pigs to humans than is usual for swine flu viruses.

CDC Recommendations for People with High Risk Factors:

Anyone who is at high risk of serious flu complications planning to attend a fair where pigs will be present should avoid pigs and swine barns at the fair this year.
People who are at high risk of serious flu complications include children younger than 5 years, people 65 years and older, pregnant women, and people with certain long-term health conditions (like asthma and other lung disease, diabetes, heart disease, weakened immune systems, and neurological or neurodevelopmental conditions).

CDC Recommendations for People Not at High Risk:

Don't take food or drink into pig areas; don't eat, drink or put anything in your mouth in pig areas.
Don't take toys, pacifiers, cups, baby bottles, strollers, or similar items into pig areas.
Avoid close contact with pigs that look or act ill.
Take protective measures if you must come in contact with pigs that are known or suspected to be sick. This includes minimizing contact with pigs and wearing personal protective equipment like protective clothing and gloves and masks that cover your mouth and nose when contact is required.
Wash your hands often with soap and running water before and after exposure to pigs. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand rub.
To further reduce the risk of infection, minimize contact with pigs and swine barns.
Watch your pig (if you have one) for illness. Call a veterinarian if you suspect illness.
Avoid contact with pigs if you have flu-like symptoms. Wait 7 days after your illness started or until you have been without fever for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications, whichever is longer. If you must have contact with pigs while you are sick, take the protective actions listed above.

People with high risk factors who have pig exposure, including having attended a fair where pigs are present, and develop flu symptoms, should call a health care provider. Tell them about your exposure and your high risk factor. Seasonal flu vaccine will not protect against H3N2v, but prescription influenza antiviral drugs can treat H3N2v illness in people.

For more information contact Lynne C. Beck, BS, RHEd; Media Relations Manager and Community Health Educator. E-mail Lynne.

Flip the Script in Guilford County

Seventy percent of teens who abuse prescription drugs get them from friends and family, often for free.

Medicines are safe when used properly. Alcohol & Drug Services and the Cone Foundation have joined forces to fight the prescription drug epidemic in our own back yard. This project, called Flip the Script is opening eyes and creating awareness through education, collaboration, and advocacy.

Teens are extremely resourceful - usually one or two steps ahead of us. Often that resourcefulness is steered in positive directions. When it isn't, we have to intervene. Visit any store that sells paraphernalia "for tobacco use only" and you will understand. With prescriptions, some teens are holding "pharm" parties. Putting colorful pills into a bowl, taking what appeals to them and chasing with alcohol. Teens know that ADHD medicines are valuable on the street. Some share their medicine with friends or sell them. If they know parents are counting pills, they might open up the capsules and take some or all of the medicine out to sell or share. (If you think this might be happening at home, hold your capsules toward a light source to check.) Many of the teens who misuse ADHD or stimulant medicines are teens concerned with making good grades, getting into the best colleges, and those who want to lose weight. So, what can we do? A lot! Keeping powerful medicines out of the wrong hands is simple - Monitor, Secure, & Dispose of Medicines Safely.

Flip the Script also provides Medicine Disposal Kits to Guilford County businesses (to disperse) and residents as a way to safely throw away old, unused medicines. This simple act decreases the availability and access to drugs in our homes. The kits are snack sized Ziploc bags of kitty litter with instructions attached. To date, the interest and response around the kits has been overwhelming.

Together we can make a difference in our community! Volunteer, support, and advocacy opportunities are waiting. To learn how you can help Alcohol & Drug Services' prescription drug initiative, Flip the Script, "Like" us at www.Facebook.com/FlipTheScripRx, then share with your friends.

Contact Tracy Roche or Janet Riley-Wright . Let's talk one on one 882-2125.

Thank you in advance for helping Guilford County Monitor, Secure, & Dispose of Medicines Safely!

PTA Votes Election Guide

Election season is well underway and it's important that PTA's voice is heard. As a PTA member, you need to be aware of the "dos" and "don'ts" of elections as a 501(c)3 organization. That's why we has posted the 2012 PTA Votes Election Guide-a printable guide that provides guidance to PTAs, ranging from voter registration drives and questions for candidates, to ballot initiatives and answers to those important "but can we legally do this?" questions.

The PTA Votes webpage also provides an interactive tool that allows members to register to vote and identify local elections by entering an address. If you can't find an answer to your online, contact National PTA Advocacy Specialist Mollie Van Lieu.

Did you know?

EatSmartMoveMoreWeighLess

Did you know that if you are a state employee you can get a 15-week weight loss class nearly for free at your workplace?

Learn more here.

You can also learn ways to promote heathy eating at your workplace with a free toolkit.

Did you know that the Alice Aycock Poe Center for Health Education has a NEW Guilford County-based Health Educator?

Learn more about Jodi Bennett-Bradshaw here.

Did you know that this school year, Action for Healthy Kids is offering a variety of virtual learning opportunities?

We'll teach you about everything from school breakfast programs and recess before lunch to wellness policy implementation and more. So, check out our Webinars and find one that fits your interests. Most sessions are free and open to anyone who'd like to attend. You can learn about each Webinar and register here.

Did you know that October is Bullying Prevention Month?

Learn more by visiting topBullying.gov.

Healthy Holidays

Worried holiday weight gain will weigh you down?

Join the Holiday Challenge to get free weekly e-Newsletters that will help you maintain your weight during the holidays. In this newsletter you will find healthy recipes, tips and information to help you successfully navigate the holiday season.

You don't have to do it alone. Stay motivated and support one another. How you participate is up to you -- follow along with other participants just like you on the Holiday Challenge Blog or share your strategies on our Facebook page.

The Holiday Challenge runs from November 21 through December 31.

*If you are having trouble signing up for the Holiday Challenge, contact newsletter@eatsmartmovemorenc.com.

The Guilford County Council of PTAs requests that all local units subscribe to this newsletter and actively contribute news, ideas, and other suggestions. Please help us make this YOUR health and safety e-newsletter.

Sincerely,

Nancy L. Kondracki, MS, RD, LDN

Health & Safety eNewsletter Editor

GCC of PTAs