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Get Involved, and Get Moving!

y Lisa Katic

It has been known for sometime that balancing the calories we consume with calories burned through physical activity is the key to weight maintenance and a healthy life. But if that is so obvious, why is America’s weight problem so vast?

Unfortunately, it is difficult to change people’s learned behaviors--especially when it comes what they eat and how much energy they expend. That is just the facts.

But that’s why the Snack Food Association supports a major initiative formed in partnership with several companies and health professional organizations that have an interest in promoting healthful eating and active living among individuals. It’s called “America on the Move” (AOM), and it’s a good way to have a positive influence on health.

AOM is a non-profit foundation that has recognized through research that small, targeted changes in food and physical activity behaviors can have a positive effect on health and successfully halt weight gain. It has demonstrated that it only takes small incremental changes in a person’s life to have a positive effect on their health. Thus, the AOM program inspires Americans to engage in fun, simple ways to become more active and eat more healthfully.

For example, If Americans would make two small daily changes – take 2000 more steps (equivalent of about one mile) and eat just 100 fewer calories – there would be big results. AOM’s first pilot program, Colorado on the Move, verified that by setting personalized goals, people are more likely to initiate changes in their lives.

More than 60% of American adults do not exercise at the federally recommended level of 30 minutes a day. In fact, a recent Harris Poll survey conducted by AOM showed that Americans spend 7.7 hours per day sitting and four hours per day watching television and playing computer games.

So AOM realized that trying to start individuals on an exercise program requiring them to complete the recommended 10,000 steps per day (equal to five miles) was too daunting and unrealistic. Instead, they asked people in their pilot program to take just 2000 extra steps per day, which was likely to lead to positive change. In addition, the pilot showed the importance of decreasing calorie consumption by a small amount. These combined actions were shown to help participants avoid weight gain.

A Program for Change

Trying to change behavior to improve health requires a commitment from individuals and communities where people live, work and play. AOM identified the need to engage multiple stakeholders across the country to create positive solutions.

It then developed a model that brings together civic leaders, health-related organizations, academic institutions, industry, media and retail organizations to help communities build an infrastructure that supports and maintains newly formed behavior patterns focused on good nutrition and increased physical activity.

How Is This Achieved?

AOM reaches consumers in communities through four different delivery channels:

A website, www.americaonthemove.org, which lists programs and provides free tools for individuals or special groups to follow. Participants can set personalized goals and track progress on healthy eating and active living. The website also provides information about local and national AOM events.
A national grassroots network of AOM Affiliates, where coordinators work with partners to implement local programs and events. There are AOM Affiliates in California, Santa Barbara, Colorado, Florida, DC, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Saratoga, NY, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.
National partners that work with AOM to bring customized programs to their membership or constituencies. Some examples of partners are: American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Sports Medicine, National Urban League.
Industry supported programs in retail settings to give information to consumers to help them make wiser eating choices and give incentives to start moving more with AOM.
America on the Move Gets Results

AOM conducted a study to examine the impact of using step counters (a cornerstone of AOM programs to increase activity) in conjunction with teaching materials on physical activity in over 450 middle school students. The program was based on AOM’s physical activity model using elements such as tracking daily activity. The AOM program was found to have a positive impact on participation in physical activity levels in school students.

AOM also commissioned a study to evaluate families with overweight children, following over 200 families with at least one overweight child. These families were taught about the AOM philosophy of “small changes” and were provided with step counters, tracking forms and nutritional tips for cutting calories. The study found the first real evidence that making small and simple changes over a period of time had a positive impact on overweight children and increased their physical activity.

A more recent project targeting children and families by Harris Interactive for AOM surveyed about 1500 youth ages 8-18 years old to learn their views regarding healthy eating and physical activity. The survey was conducted in preparation for Steptember, a month-long campaign to promote healthy lifestyles. The survey showed that moms are the key to shaping their kids views on being healthy. Seven in ten kids receive their information about health from their mother (71%).

Additionally, more 8-12 year olds than 13-18 year olds get information about what to do to be healthy from their mom (89% vs. 57%) and their dad (57% vs. 31%)

Make Difference

You or your company can improve the health of your community, your family or yourself by logging onto the America on the Move website and joining in this effort for free--as an individual, a health professional or as a group. Each one will help you take steps to impact the health of someone now--maybe even you.

Lisa Katic is SFA’s nutritionist and public policy health advisor.

Childhood Obesity: Be Part of the Solution--Part 2

(Last month Lisa Katic, SFA’s nutritionist and public policy health advisor, discussed the problem of childhood obesity and an SFA-backed program, Kidnetic.com, which can help companies encourage kids to be more active. In this follow-up, Lisa discusses a new Leaders Guide that has been created as part of this effort.)

By Lisa Katic

Is your company interested in the health and well-being of kids and families in your community? Don’t reinvent the wheel! SFA supports an excellent program that has been designed for precisely that purpose. It’s called “ACTIVATE,” and it can help your company encourage health and fitness programs in your local schools or community settings.

Here’s how:

ACTIVATE is an umbrella program designed to promote healthy family lifestyles and help prevent kids from becoming significantly overweight. The Kidnetic.com Leader’s Guide is a component of ACTIVATE, and contains activity modules for teaching groups of 9-12 year-old kids and their families about fitness, food and fun.

You can be the conduit to teachers or schools in your area by informing them of this instructive and successful program. ACTIVATE and the Kidnetic.com Leader’s Guide was developed by the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation in partnership with the following organizations and is completely non-commercial, which means no branding or advertising:

American Academy of Family Physicians
American College of Sports Medicine
American Dietetic Association
International Life Sciences Institute
National Recreation and Park Association
ACTIVATE includes a website, www.kidnetic.com, which is reachable from SFA’s website, www.sfa.org, a leaders guide for use in community programs or classrooms and a guide for parents--the newest addition to the resource list.

The Kidnetic.com Leader’s Guide is an instructional resource composed of 13 modules addressing food, fitness, fun, feelings and family. The guide is filled with healthy eating and active living lessons and activities that can be used in a variety of educational settings.

The Leader’s Guide modules can be used as a stand-alone activity-based session/lesson or all 13 modules can be taught in sequence as a comprehensive health education program. Each module can range from 30 to 60 minutes in length, but can be adapted to meet shorter or loner time frames. Each activity in the modules includes goals, quick start ideas and activity action plans. There are also take home activities that involve parents and other family members.

Prior to developing the Kidnetic.com Leader’s Guide, the IFIC Foundation conducted several pilot programs involving the lessons contained in the Leader’s Guide. Modules were tested in a range of educational settings across multiple geographic locations. Participants in the testing of the modules claimed the lessons were easy to use while kids had fun learning critical health concepts.

You can download a free copy of the Leader’s Guide by visiting www.ific.org/kidnetic. The full leader’s guide is 208 pages with 13 modules divided into five categories. You can download one or all 13 modules depending on your needs.

Being Fit, Fun and Fantastic for You http://www.ific.org/kidnetic/upload/PlayHardGetFit.pdf

Stamp Out Portion Distortion

http://www.ific.org/kidnetic/upload/PortionDistortion.pdf

Keep Your Body Parts Running Right

http://www.ific.org/kidnetic/upload/KeepYourBody.pdf

Childhood Obesity: How to be Part of the Solution Part I

By Lisa Katic, SFA Nutritionist and Health Policy Advisor

The snack food industry is well aware that one of the most prevalent public health issues facing our nation is obesity and it is particularly alarming in children. The industry also knows that the causes of obesity are complex and include eating behaviors and the amount of physical activity achieved each day; as well as genetic, social, cultural, and environmental factors.

As there are no simple solutions to this complex problem, and there is no one program that provides an overall solution, the industry believes that providing useful tools and relevant information to the right target audiences to help them adopt healthy behaviors is a critical step toward turning the tide on obesity and the industry has taken action

In 1999, the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation, with the support of food companies and industry trade associations, recognized obesity as an emerging issue likely to have a major impact on the public’s health. As a result, the Foundation initiated in-depth and ongoing consumer research to determine children’s and their parent’s attitudes and behaviors about preventing childhood obesity.

The IFIC research found that kids:

relate weight to performance and appearance, not health
want small victories to hold their interest and build their self-esteem
want ideas for physical activity beyond organized sports
want parental guidance and emotional support
And the studies also found that parents:

Don’t see overweight as a health issue
Believe their child will outgrow the problem
Fear bringing attention to the problem will cause eating disorders
Lack the information and skills to address the issue with their kids
The research also found that family dynamics play a crucial role in the issue of overweight and obesity. Children want ongoing involvement and inspiration from parents. Families need to work together in addressing the obesity issue and need effective tools to facilitate this cooperative effort.

A Part of the Solution

After three years of extensive consumer research, the IFIC Foundation created ACTIVATE, a partnership of the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Sports Medicine, the American Dietetic Association and the National Recreation and Park Association.

ACTIVATE is a comprehensive consumer education program designed to help children and their families achieve healthy lifestyles through regular physical activity and good nutrition. It is designed to deliver information and programs in the home, school and community settings.

The first component of ACTIVATE is Kidnetic.com, an interactive website designed to help kids tap into their own energy through good nutrition and regular physical activity. Kids are encouraged to go online to learn and interact with the website, but also to get up and get moving while learning. The kidnetic.com website helps to open the lines of communication between parents and their kids and provides healthy recipe ideas that kids and parents can make together. Some of the games and activities found on the Kidnetic.com website include Busy Buddy, Betchacant, Inner G, Time Challenge, Kidnector, and Recipe Roundup. These activities focus on tips for foods and activities that energize certain parts of the body, fun activities for one or two kids that gets them up and moving around while they are logged on to their computer, virtual e-mail messaging services that open lines of communication between kids and parents, and recipes for groovy ape smoothies and devilish eyeball delicacies.

Kidnetic.com has received over 2.5 million visits to the home page and has obtained over 700 links and online mentions to date. Eighty-five percent of traffic comes from links and bookmarks. These are impressive statistics and it is important for SFA’s members to be aware that they are supporting a program that is being utilized so extensively. Moreover, SFA members can promote Kidnetic.com to show their concern for children’s health and their desire to motivate youngsters to develop healthy habits.

How to Support Kidnetic.com

Create links from member company websites to kidnetic.com
Incorporate Kidnetic.com content into your company website
Use Kidnetic.com graphics to create point of sale material promoting healthy lifestyles and directing people to Kidnetic.com.
Use Kidnetic.com materials in community-based programs
Tap into the Energy and visit Kidnetic.com today. Your company can be part of the solution, just by participating in and supporting this program that is already being made available through SFA.