King County Food and Fitness Initiative
WSU King County Extension and Public Health-Seattle & King County are co-convening the newly established King County Food and Fitness Initiative (KCFFI) -- part of a national Food and Fitness Initiative funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. KCFFI's initial two-year planning phase is aimed at developing a Community Action Plan to foster community environments that support healthy youth and families by increasing access to local, healthy foods and safe spaces for physical activity and play. The Community Action Plan will be developed by a collaborative of community partners working to collect data, identify gaps and opportunities, and develop alternatives based on participatory community input. As part of this effort, youth will be engaged to develop and participate in community solutions. At the end of the two-year grant, the King County Initiative will be eligible for potential implementation funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for up to eight years.
Target Audience: Youth and families in King County
Evaluation: Group Health Community Foundation will evaluate the KCFFI.
Partners: WSU King County Extension, Public Health-Seattle & King County, and more than 40 community partners (see list) are involved in KCFFI. Funding is provided by the
W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Seattle Foundation.
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Healthy Schools...Successful Students Web Site: Supporting School Health in Washington
The Healthy Schools...Successful Students Web Site - www.healthyschoolswa.org - provides information and resources to support policy makers, school officials, teachers and staff, parents and advocates as they work to ensure that students are healthy and ready to learn. The Washington State Department of Health, Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, University of Washington Center for
Public Health Nutrition and partner organizations developed the site to expand on and increase access to existing school health resources. During the site's development, needs were identified through a web-based survey (431 responses) and key informant interviews (33) with members of the target audiences. The result is a colorful, engaging web site that:
- Supports schools as they begin implementing or continue to develop a coordinated approach to maximize the health and well-being of students and school staff.
- Offers a venue for sharing strategies that have worked across the state.
- Highlights opportunities to improve nutrition through all eight components of CDC's Coordinated School Health model - nutrition services, physical education, health education, health services, counseling and support services, healthy school environment, health promotion for staff, and family/community involvement.
- Provides access to wellness policy resources and a catalog of policies and procedures from Washington's school districts.
A listserv has been established to provide periodic updates about the site, highlight new content or features, and request feedback to support the site's continued development. To join the HealthySchoolsWA listserv, please email waschool@u.washington.edu.
Target Audience: School and district administrators, teachers, school nutrition professionals, school nurses and other health professionals, community members, advocates, parents, students, legislators, community leaders and other policy makers
Evaluation: The project team will monitor web usage and request feedback from visitors and listserv members using a web-based survey.
Partners: Washington State Department of Health, Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, UW Center for Public Health Nutrition, Washington State School Directors’ Association,
Washington State Board of Health, and Children's Alliance. Funding was provided by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service.
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Healthy Student Store Marketing Challenge
in Clark County
In September 2006, Steps to a Healthier Clark County’s Access to Healthy Food/Healthy Food Guidelines Team launched the six-month Healthy Student Store Marketing Challenge. Following a half day workshop for area high school students and teachers, students were challenged to research, develop and implement a marketing and education campaign to promote healthier products in their student store operations.
In May, Heritage High School in the Evergreen School District was awarded first place and received a prize of $5000 to be applied to healthy marketing in the next school year. The award-winning campaign built on the concept of adding breakfast options to the school store’s existing lunch and snack menu. Heritage High School senior and project leader, Jake Thomas, surveyed over 1,000 freshman and found that although 78% said they knew breakfast was important, only 29% consistently ate breakfast daily. The Heritage team added healthy breakfast options such as bagels, cereal and milk, yogurt, fruit, granola bars, and breakfast sandwiches to the school store menu. Less healthy items were moved further from view. Heritage's marketing plan included sales training, direct advertising through announcements and video, posters, incentives, and punch cards to earn free meals. A complimentary educational campaign was also conducted by the students. End-of-year sales for 2006/2007 were nearly $2000 higher than the previous year.
Other schools introduced new products, reduced portion sizes on less healthy products, and revamped their stores. Hudson’s Bay High School in Vancouver School District was awarded $2,500, and Battleground High School in Battleground School District received a $1,500 prize sponsored by the Washington Dairy Council.
Target Audience: High School Students in Clark County
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Upcoming Event: Access to Healthy Foods Coalition Annual Meeting
Registration is now available for the Access to Healthy Foods Coalition's Annual Meeting. This year's meeting will feature:
- Keynote Address -
"Nutrient Density: Using Naturally Nutrient-Rich Foods to Build a Healthy Diet",
Constance Geiger, PhD, RD, CD
- Panel Discussions - "Healthy Choices in Schools", "Access to Healthy Food within the Hunger Response Network", and "Introducing Healthy Choices in the Workplace"
- Community Food Policy Panel - Farmers markets, grocery stores, and
restaurants
Attendees will also learn about the Access To Healthy Foods Coalition, a group of businesses,
industries, government agencies and non-profit organizations working together to
positively influence health and nutrition in Washington state by improving the access to
healthier foods where we live, learn, work and play. An interactive session in the afternoon will provide an opportunity to help plan future Access initiatives.
Date and Time: Thursday, November 1, 2007, 8 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Location: Shoreline Conference Center, Shoreline Room
More Information and Registration: Agenda & Registration Form (PDF)
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Featured Resource: Healthy Communities Tool Kit
The Healthy Communities Tool Kit captures the lessons learned from the cities of Moses Lake and Mount Vernon as they mobilized their communities to create environments that make it easier for residents to be physically active and choose healthy foods. The tool kit contains the lessons learned in the planning phase and useful tools in developing a community action plan. Many of the Took Kit documents are now available in Word format and can be adapted to meet local needs.
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