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February 2007 |
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Strategic Alliance Members Meeting Each year, the Strategic Alliance members come together to share efforts and opinions on directions for the Alliance. This year’s meeting was held during the Childhood Obesity Conference this past January and focused on recent policy issues, including the Governor’s Health Care Plan proposal, the 2007-08 legislative session and potential strategies for galvanizing attention for policy and environmental change work. Ellen Wu of California Pan Ethnic Health Network, shared information on the Governor’s Health Care Plan proposal, and highlighted how this presents a rare opportunity to improve health care access and address prevention. The proposal includes support for prevention services in health care as well as community-based strategies to improve access to healthy food and physical activity. Prevention Institute will be following up with this by organizing a web conference around the proposal and its impact on the Alliance’s work. Read more...
On January 26, 2007 the Strategic Alliance released Where’s the Fruit? a study which examines the fruit content of the most heavily advertised children’s food products with indications of fruit on the packaging. Despite packaging which suggests the presence of fruit, the study reveals that two thirds of these products either contain no fruit at all or only minimal amounts of fruit. Strategic Alliance also prepared “Setting the Bar: Actions to Improve Food and Beverage Offerings,” to provide the food and beverage industry with specific recommendations to improve their product offerings and marketing. We would like to thank all of you who served as spokespeople for the study, your participation made the release a tremendous success. Where’s the Fruit? received national and international media attention through print, TV, radio, and Internet blogs. Read more... SAVE THE DATE! 3/28/2007, 11:00am-12:30pm PST (2:00pm-3:30pm EST) Environmental Nutrition and Activity Community Tool (ENACT) Webforum Prevention Institute is pleased to announce that we will hold our first national online webforum on the Environmental Nutrition and Activity Community Tool (ENACT) on March 28, 2007 from 11:00am-12:30pm PST (2:00pm-3:30pm EST). Space is limited and will be on a first come, first served basis. Please click here to learn more about this exciting training opportunity and to reserve your space. South Shasta Combats Barriers to Physical Inactivity South Shasta County is one of six sites funded by the California Endowment as part of the Healthy Eating Active Community (HEAC) grant initiative, which aims to create momentum for widespread changes in policy and practice that will improve eating and activity environments. The population of 43,244 is predominantly white, but with sizable Latino and Native American populations. As HEAC’s only rural site, South Shasta County faces unique challenges; barriers to active lifestyles include long distances, country roads and lack of sidewalks in many areas. Read more...
WIC and Breastfeeding
As California hospitals are beginning to make progress in creating policies that restrict the marketing of infant formula to new moms, formula companies are looking for new creative outlets to market their products. The makers of Similac infant formula and Walmart have teamed up to launch “All Things Baby”, a nationwide in-store event which markets infant formula and bottle feeding to shoppers across the country. Similac will be sponsoring “Nutrition and Feeding Educational Seminars” during the event which highlight bottle feeding and formula.
The California WIC Association (CWA) has called on breastfeeding advocates across the state to monitor their local Walmart stores and send kfarley@calwic.org any materials and information distributed at the stores. Read more...
Promoting Healthy Eating and Physical Activity in Health Care Settings Poor diet and inactivity have significant medical and economic consequences. Millions of Americans live with debilitating chronic illnesses and the medical care for these chronic illnesses account for over 75% of the 1.5 trillion dollars spent on health care in the United States each year. Samuels and Associates, on behalf of the Strategic Alliance for Healthy Food and Activity Environments, has developed Promoting Healthy Eating and Physical Activity in Health Care Settings. The brief provides an overview of the deficiency of healthy eating and physical activity promotion in clinical practice and health care settings. It provides examples and recommendations for changing the focus of clinical practice to prevention and improving the nutrition and physical activity environment in health care facilities. ... Searching for Healthy Food: The Food Landscape in California Cities and Counties California Center for Public Health Advocacy’s recently released study, Searching for Healthy Food: The Food Landscape in California Cities and Counties, found that statewide there are nearly four times as many fast-food restaurants and convenience stores as supermarkets and produce vendors. Among cities and counties with populations over 250,000 two cities have more than six times as many as fast-food restaurants and convenience stores as supermarkets and produce vendors. Five of the 25 counties in the study have five times as many as fast-food restaurants and convenience stores as supermarkets and produce vendors. Read more... ... Sweet Deals: School Fundraising Can Be Healthy and Profitable Last week the Center for Science in the Public Interest released a report, Sweet Deals, which helps to dispel a number of myths about the need to sell junk food in schools. The report also provides contact information for more than 60 companies that offer healthy fundraising options and provides ideas for fundraisers that promote physical activity, such as bowl-a-thons, 5Ks, car washes, and sporting events. "Health-conscious parents have a hard enough time without schools pressuring their children to buy even more junk food to help pay for their own education," said CSPI nutrition policy director Margo G. Wootan. "Why put parents in that position when there are perfectly good fundraisers that don’t jeopardize children's health?" To download a copy of the report, please visit www.cspinet.org/schoolfundraising.pdf.
Eliminating Childhood Obesity: Best Practices for Communities and Schools The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Tavis Smiley Presents have partnered to host a town hall meeting in Los Angeles on Eliminating Childhood Obesity: Best Practices for Communities and Schools. The Town Hall meeting will take place on Friday, March 30, 2007 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Los Angeles Convention Center (1201 S. Figueroa St.). This meeting will explore ideas to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic, particularly among children at greatest risk. It also will examine effective strategies for working together in reshaping schools and communities to be healthier places for our children. Please confirm your attendance at la@rwjf.org ... California Coalition for Food and Farming 2007 Policy Platform In 2007, U.S. Congress will renew the Farm Bill. The Farm Bill is a complex piece of legislation that has several implications for health, and is a mechanism for improving local food access. In the January newsletter we shared with you the Farm and Food Policy Project’s platform. This month, we’d like to share the California Coalition for Food and Farming’s (CCFF) Farm and Food Policy Platform. Both platforms support initiatives in the Farm Bill that will increase local access to healthy foods. Read more...
Roots of Change: A Bright Future for Healthy Communities, Farms, & Food in California Tues, February 27, 2007 in Ventura, CA and various dates and locations
Healthy Parks, Healthy Communities Wed, March 7, 2007; Pacoima, CA Postponed.... Wed, March 7, 2007; 3pm Wed, March 28, 2007, 11am-12:30pm PST online Eliminating Childhood Obesity: Best Practices for Communities and Schools Fri, March 30, 2007; Los Angeles, CA
Thanks for reading! The Strategic Alliance is currently engaged in building a broad and diverse statewide membership. If you were forwarded this e-mail and want to receive your own copy in the future, please click here or e-mail Sana@preventioninstitute.org. And if you’re already a member, please forward this message to your colleagues so we can continue to strengthen our coalition. Thank you!
WHAT IS THE STRATEGIC ALLIANCE? The Strategic Alliance is reframing the debate on nutrition and physical activity away from a focus solely on individual choice and lifestyle towards one of environmental influences and corporate and government responsibility. Current Steering Committee members are: California Adolescent Nutrition and Fitness Program (CANFit), California Center for Public Health Advocacy (CCPHA), California Food Policy Advocates (CFPA), California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, California Park and Recreation Society (CPRS) , California Project LEAN, California WIC Association (CWA), Child Care Food Program Roundtable, Latino Health Access, Partnership for the Public’s Health, Prevention Institute, Samuels & Associates, and YMCA of the East Bay.
The Strategic Alliance is supported by funding from The California Endowment.
The Strategic Alliance is reframing the debate on nutrition and physical activity--from a focus solely on individual choice and lifestyle, towards one of environmental influences and corporate and government responsibility.
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