The Big Picture and the Theory Behind the Practice

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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Taking Action to Address Childhood Obesity
Policy, Community, and Coordination Adolescent
and School Health Partners Meeting, 2009 Hyatt
Regency Hotel, Bethesda, MD Karen A. Donato,
S.M. Coordinator Overweight and Obesity Research
Applications
National Institutes of Health
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and
Kidney Diseases
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of
Child Health and Human Development
National Cancer Institute
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Roadmap

• Overview of We Can!
• Resources for Youth and Parents
• We Can! Community Success Stories
• How You Can Get Involved
• Additional We Can! Resources

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A national education program targeting youth,
ages 813, and their parents and caregivers in
home and community settings to meet the overall
goal of preventing overweight and obesity.
Flexible! Variety of settings
Turn-key, Science-based program for the entire
community
Fosters collaboration!
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We Can! Help Children and Families Maintain a
Healthy Weight!
to help Children and Families maintain a healthy
weight.
NIH Science
NIH Science working through Communities,
Partnerships and Media
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A Growing National Movement

• Over 1,000 community sites have signed up for We
  Can! leading their communities through
  science-based parent and youth programs and We
  Can! community events.

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Broad Diversity in Implementation
Community Site Settings
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We Can! A Useful Program for Coordinated School
Health Model
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Resources for Youth and Parents
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We Can! Behavioral Objectives

• Youth Ages 8-13
• Choose a sufficient amount of fruits and
  vegetables per day.
• Limit intake of high-fat foods and energy-dense
  foods that are low in nutrients.
• Control portion sizes of foods consumed.
• Substitute water, fat-free milk, or low-fat milk
  for sweetened beverages.
• Engage in at least 60 minutes of moderate
  physical activity on most, preferably all, days
  of the week.
• Reduce sedentary activity by limiting screen time
  to no more than 2 hours per day.

• Parents / Primary Caregivers
• Increase the availability and accessibility of
  healthy foods in the home.
• Limit the availability and accessibility of
  sweetened beverages and high-fat,
  high-density/low nutrient value foods in the
  home.
• Control portion sizes of foods
  consumed.
• Support and enable family
• physical activity.
• Support and enable reduced screen
  time.

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Youth Programs

• CATCH Kids Club - After-school program for
  children (K-5) contains three elements
  curriculum, PA and snack components.
• S.M.A.R.T. (Student Media Awareness to Reduce
  Television) third or fourth grade classroom
  curriculum designed to reduce TV and video game
  usage.
• Media-Smart Youth Eat, Think, and Be Active!
  10 lessons helping children (ages 11-13)
  understand the connections between media and
  their health.

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CATCH Kids Club Program Elements

• 3 programmatic elements
• A curricular component
• A physical activity program
• A snack component
• Field-tested materials
• Activity Box
• Nutrition Manual

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Why CATCH Kids Club?

• CKC works!
• Kid-tested and approved
• Inclusive (everybody plays)
• Demonstrated to increase childrens physical
  activity and their nutrition knowledge
  intentions
• CKC activities are designed to attract children
• Get them to make the choice to participate
• Games are fun
• Variety of activities
• CKC is easy to use
• Information and resources to successfully
  integrate structured activities and nutrition
  lessons into after-school programs.

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CATCH Kids Club in Alabama

• Alabama Department of Public Health Founding
  Intensive Site
• Train and provide CKC materials for 21st Century
  Community Learning Centers

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S.M.A.R.T. (Student Media Awareness to Reduce
Television)

• Developed and tested by Stanford University
  (1996-1997)
• Designed to reduce childrens
• Television, videotape and DVD viewing
• Video and computer game use

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S.M.A.R.T. Program Elements

• Semester to yearlong program
• 3rd to 4th grade classroom curriculum designed to
  motivate children to reduce their television
  watching and video game usage.
• 16 lessons
• Range from 20 to 60 minutes in length
• Ideally spread throughout the year.
• Parent/home component

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Parent/Home Component

• SMART Kids, SMART Families Newsletter
• Students encouraged to involve family and
  friends
• Strong communities

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Media-Smart Youth Eat, Think, and Be Active!

• 10 lessons helping children (ages 11-13)
  understand the connections between media and
  their health.
• Interactive after-school education program
• Grounded in communications and youth development
  principals

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Media-Smart Youth Program Goals

• Create awareness of medias role in influencing
  choices concerning physical activity and
  nutrition
• Build critical thinking and media analysis
  skills to help youth make informed choices
  regarding physical activity and nutrition
• Encourage youth to establish healthy habits now
  to last into adulthood

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Program Resources

• Media-Smart Youth Facilitators Packet
• Video/DVD
• 6 Media Questions Poster
• Media-Smart Youth Training Guide
• Half-Day and Full-Day
• Tip Sheets
• Ideas for Implementation
• Tips for Facilitating Media-Smart Youth
• Media-Smart Youth
• Fact Sheet

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Media-Smart Youth in Roswell, GA

• We Can! City led by City of Roswell Recreation
  and Parks Department
• Community Partners
• Middle schools
• YMCAs
• Parents
• Youth projects
• Website
• Group logos and slogans
• Video PSA
• Radio jingles

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We Can! Energize Our Families Parent Program

• 4- or 6-session curriculum for parents and
  caregivers
• Supplemental tip sheets and parent handbook
• 1-hour Power Talk training on how to get started

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Parent Programs in Boston, MA

• Boston Public Health Commission
• CDC Steps funding
• 8 Inner City Parent Programs
• Promotion through schools
• Key Partners
• YMCA
• Schools
• Community Health Center
• Engage diverse groups with
• culturally-relevant tools
• Conduct training of trainers
• for Parent Program

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Fun Ideas for Working with Parents

• Build in opportunities to spend time with family
• Healthy cooking demos
• Physical activity for all ages
• Encourage parents to support each other
• In-class discussions
• Follow-up support
• Use of Get Fit TN - Fitness Tracker for
  friendly competition

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Portion Distortion
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Cheeseburger
Today
20 Years Ago
330 calories
How many calories are in this cheeseburger?
590 calories
Calorie Difference 257 calories
Lift weights for 1 hour and 30 minutes
How long will you have to lift weight to burn 257
Calories?
Based on 130 pound person
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French Fries
20 Years Ago
Today
210 Calories 2.4 ounces
How many calories are in these fries?
610 Calories 6.9 ounces
Calorie Difference 400 Calories
How long do you have to walk leisurely to burn
400 calories?
Walk leisurely for 1 hr 10 Minutes
Based on 160 pound person
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Soda
20 Years Ago
Today
85 Calories 6 ½ ounces
How many calories are in this soda?
250 Calories 20 ounces
Calorie Difference 165 Calories
How long do you have to garden to burn 165
calories?
Garden for 35 Minutes
Based on 160 pound person
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We Can! Community Success Stories
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Community Success StoriesSchool Districts

• Cobb County Public Schools and Cobb/Douglas
  Public Health
• CATCH Kids Club curriculum in 68 elementary
  schools
• In-class and after-school activities
• We Can! County - Armstrong County, PA
• HEALTHY Armstrong (Healthy Eating, Active
  LifestylesTogether Helping Youth) coalition
• CATCH Kids Club combined with weekend activities

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Community Success StoriesPublic Health
Departments

• Benton County Healthy Weight and Lifestyle
  Coalition
• Coalition of 22 members
• Rural audiences
• 7 community events
• 5 MSY programs
• MSY PSAs on Comcast Spotlight
• Parent Program
• Key Partners
• Extension Services
• Libraries
• Park and Recreation
• Samaritan Health Services
• Comcast
• Corvallis Dietician Association

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Community Success StoriesStatewide
Implementation

• Kentucky Department of Public Health
• Extensive formative research targeting parents
• CDC State-Based funding
• Parent Program Statewide
• Key Partnerships
• Public Libraries (facility, , promotion)
• Food Stamp Programming
• Cooperative Extension
• Health Departments
• Faith-Based Organizations
• Developing State We Can!
• Web Site

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Childrens Museums

• Childrens Museum of Oak Ridge
• Media event for program launch
• Partnerships
• Roane County Head Start Program
• East Tennessee Childrens Hospital
• Childrens museum in Knoxville
• Local health club
• Childrens Museum of Memphis
• Media event with students
• Partnered with We Can! Intensive Site New
  Beginning Ministries Church

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Partnerships
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National Partners

• Over 20 National Partners Supporting
  Organizations have joined We Can!

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Partnership with CDCs Division of Adolescent and
School Health (DASH)

• Integration into We Can! trainings and TA
• School Health Index (SHI)
• Physical Education Curriculum Education Analysis
  Tool (PECAT)
• Making It Happen School Nutrition Success Stories
• Co-promotion of We Can! and Coordinated School
  Health
• Listservs
• Meetings
• Teleconferences
• Web sites
• Exhibits

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We Can! in TN

• We Can! Outreach to Tennessee Coordinated School
  Health
• Participation in 2008 CSH Institute in Nashville
• Parent Youth resources featured in Tennessee
  CSH Toolkit for Using CSH Data

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We Can! Subway Partnership

• Healthier Meals for Kids
• Materials for teachers and parents through
  Scholastic
• Training for community sites

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How Communities Get Involved
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Start We Can! in YOUR Community

• Sign-up to become a We Can! Community site and
  receive
• Free We Can! Starter Kit
• E-newsletter
• Listservs
• National recognition
• Connection to other sites
• around the country

Sign-up today at http//wecan.nhlbi.nih.gov
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Think About Whats Right for You

• GENERAL COMMUNITY SITES
• Implement any two of the following three
  activities over the course of one year
• One We Can! parent program/curriculum
• One We Can! youth program/curriculum
• One We Can! community event

JUST DIPPING YOUR TOES IN THE WATER?

• INTENSIVE COMMUNITY SITES
• Implement three or more We Can! parent
  programs/curricula.
• Implement three or more We Can! youth
  programs/curricula.
• Host three or more We Can! community outreach
  events.
• Work with local partners to implement We Can!
  programs.
• Pursue local We Can! media coverage.
• Submit an abstract of your years activities for
  posting on the We Can! Web site.

READY TO DIVE RIGHT IN?

• WE CAN! CITIES/COUNTIES
• Send a letter of commitment from your city mayor
  or county executive
• Issue a mayoral proclamation announcing the We
  Can! City/County effort.
• Provide We Can! information or activities to
  city/county employees.
• Implement four or more We Can! parent
  programs/curricula.
• Implement four or more We Can! youth
  programs/curricula.
• Conduct four or more We Can! Community events.
• Work with local partners to implement We Can!
  programs.
• Pursue local We Can! media coverage.
• Submit an online summary form describing We Can!
  City programming.

GOT LEADERSHIP FROM THE TOP?
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We Can! City and County Program

• City of Binghamton and Broome County, NY - First
  joint We Can! City-County effort
• Collaboration of city school district, county
  health department, and health system
• Parent and youth programming with school menu
  policy intervention

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Additional We Can! Program Resources
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We Can! Resources to Mobilize Communities
PEOPLE
PARTNERING
Easily downloadable resources in English and
Spanish
Partnerships Power Point
Community Toolkit
Tip Sheets

• PROGRAMS

PUBLIC VISIBILITY
Parent and Youth Programs
From a National Web Platform http//wecan.nhlbi.ni
h.gov 1-866-35-WECAN
60-second Flash presentation
News Articles
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More We Can! Tools You Can Use
Tip Sheets for Parents and Physicians
Fact Sheet
Flash Animations
Partnerships PPT
En Español
Matte Articles
Sample Press Release
Logos
Sign Up Form
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We Can! en Español
Tip Sheets for Parents
Parent Handbook
Web page - en Español
Media tools
Parent Program Curriculum
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We Can! on the Web

• Become a friend of We Can! on MySpace
• (http//www.myspace.com/nihwecan)
• View the We Can! and You Can Too video and
  flash animations on YouTube
• Connect with others on LinkedIn
• (http//www.linkedin.com/in/nihwecan)

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We Can! Trainings

• Objectives
• Educate participants about We Can!
• Provide training on We Can! curricula
• Share innovative ideas to launch/strengthen We
  Can! programming
• Network with others
• Options
• Trainings on Demand
• Community Sites Take Control
• Toolkit of Resources
• Regional Trainings
• Coming SoonOnline Training

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Learn From Others!

• Visit the We Can! web site Get Involved section
  to read about community site efforts in different
  settings.
• Sign up to become a We Can! City, intensive site,
  or general community site.

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With Your Help

• Succeed!