State and Local Program “Wins”

If you're having trouble reading this message, click here   June 2022 Greetings, In public health, we often forget is to stop and reflect on our “wins,” so, I would like to pause and acknowledge the incredible advancements of our current state and local programs in the past 3 years. This progress occurred despite COVID-19 and without funding to adequately support the State Physical Activity and Nutrition (SPAN) program in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The accomplishments in the chart below reflect work from SPAN as well as the High Obesity Program (HOP) and Racial and Community Approaches to Community Health (REACH). These DNPAO programs could not happen without: Hard work to put into practice what we know works. The science that we use to define our strategies. Congressional funding that DNPAO receives. Technical support that DNPAO and partners provide to recipients. You will hear more at the end of the five-year funding cycle about our combined achievements, but please take a moment now to celebrate the “win”. This work has made communities healthier and more resilient. This is why we do our work every day. Congratulations to all! Dr. Ruth Petersen, Director, DNPAO    SPAN, HOP AND REACH Progress, 2018 – 2021 Successes From First 3 Years of Current 5-Year Funding Cycle   Feature Of The Month   Expanding Federal Insurance Coverage for Obesity Prevention and Treatment The US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is taking steps to expand obesity prevention and treatment coverage for children and adults. OPM manages federal employee health benefits that enroll 8.2 million people. DNPAO provided technical assistance to OPM for obesity prevention and treatment coverage specifically for children. Clinicians commonly screen children for excess weight, but follow-up treatment is less frequent. Some areas lack relevant services. In other places, available services are not fully covered by health insurance.   The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends that physicians screen children ages 6 and older for excess weight. The recommendation includes referring children with obesity and their families to intensive family healthy weight programs. These programs should have at least 26 hours of counseling over 2 to 12 months on nutrition, physical activity, and behavior change. More than 60 randomized controlled trials show that family healthy weight programs can result in 5% to 20% reduction in excess weight. Examples of family healthy weight programs are: Healthy Weight and Your Child offered through YMCAs. Mind, Exercise, Nutrition...Do It! (MEND) from the Healthy Weight Partnership. Bright Bodies Program from the Yale School of Medicine. Family-Based Approach for Healthy Lifestyles, a behavioral health model from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. OPM reviews proposals from health insurance carriers to determine what plans to offer to federal employees. For health plans that begin in 2023, OPM’s technical guidance for insurance carriers notes that plans will be reviewed for: Restriction-free coverage of and access to child obesity screening and treatment benefits. Evidence of an integrated chronic care model approach to obesity. OPM leads a conference each year to review their criteria for insurance carriers. At this year’s conference, Dr. Alyson Goodman, medical epidemiologist with DNPAO’s Obesity Prevention and Control Branch, presented the background of obesity as a complex, chronic disease. She also reviewed the opportunities for insurance payers to support obesity prevention and treatment. News You Can Use   What's New   The new Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies (IYCF-E) Toolkit provides information and resources for emergency preparedness and response personnel, families, and the public. It is designed to ensure that infants and toddlers are fed safely when natural disasters strike, such as hurricanes, floods, wildfires, earthquakes, and tornadoes. This toolkit focuses on IYCF-E preparedness and response efforts specific to the United States and its territories. State reports from CDC’s national survey of Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care (mPINC) are now available by region. The new web page groups data into seven US regions and includes direct links to each state report. A file of all data is available to download. The mPINC survey measures care practices and policies related to newborn feeding, feeding education, staff skills, and discharge support. A new web page answers questions about expressing breast milk when returning to the workplace after having a baby. It provides tips for talking to your employer and cleaning breast pump kit parts at the workplace. In Case You Missed It   The recording of the March DNPAO Seminar, Strategies for Success: Community-Level Approaches to Support Breastfeeding, is now available. The DNPAO Seminar Series showcases the science and practice of our work—including the latest research, guidelines, and successes.   Win From the Field: Ideas From CDC-Funded Grantees Farmers Market Customers Buy Produce With WIC Vouchers, SNAP Benefits   Madera County in central California is a top producer of many food crops, yet 1 in 10 residents reports food insecurity. People who chronically lack adequate food have higher rates of diabetes, obesity, and heart disease than people with adequate food access. To address local food insecurity, a coalition of partners decided to re-establish the Madera Neighborhood Farmers’ Market which had been closed due to high operating costs. A key part of making food more accessible was for vendors to accept electronic benefits transfers (EBT) from customers receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. During the 8-week market season in 2020, about 700 people enrolled in the Special Supplemental Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) averaged $205 in EBT purchases per market day. Vendors’ willingness to accept EBT increased the variety of produce available to customers with lower incomes. The Madera Community Hospital served as the Market Manager. Other partners included community health workers, the Farm Bureau, the City of Madera, and the California Department of Public Health. The state health department is a recipient of the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) program. The Madera Neighborhood Farmers’ Market operated in 2021 and plans to continue this season.   See What Others Are Doing Upcoming Observances   July National Park and Recreation Month July 4—Independence Day July 18–22—Youth Sports Week July 24—National Parents’ Day August National Breastfeeding Month August 1–7—World Breastfeeding Week August 7–13—National Farmers Market Week August 7–13—National Health Center Week August 21—National Senior Citizens Day Suggested Social Media Posts   When we work together, all people—regardless of age, race, ability, or economic status—can have access to safe spaces for physical activity. Learn more about strategies that work. https://bit.ly/33kI6Tu #ActivePeople Starting to move your child from breastfeeding or formula to food? Learn what, when, and how to introduce nutritious food and drinks. https://bit.ly/2HNV14h Providing plenty of fruits and vegetables and limiting sugary drinks are just two ways parents can help their kids develop healthy eating patterns. Learn more: https://bit.ly/3bJJQtm Spanish Translation: Proporcionar muchas frutas y verduras y limitar las bebidas azucaradas son solo dos formas en que los padres pueden ayudar a sus hijos a desarrollar patrones de alimentación saludables. Aprende más: https://bit.ly/3uO1pQg   Find photos to accompany these posts in the State and Community Health Media Center. Behind The Scenes   Geoffrey Whitfield Team Lead for Epidemiology and Surveillance, Physical Activity and Health Branch Our team is primarily responsible for monitoring and reporting the prevalence of physical activity behaviors and supportive built environments and policies in the United States. We also investigate links between physical activity and health and look for ways to improve our monitoring practices. A major project right now is exploring how we can update physical activity monitoring with modernized approaches including GPS-enabled smartphone data and automated image analysis. What is your greatest professional satisfaction? Two things come to mind. First, seeing our work being used to inform the public and decision makers about our topic area. One example of this comes from a recent collection of articles in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health. One paper highlighted a concerning drop in physical activity participation among high school students. We have updated communication efforts based on these results. The second is mentoring the next generation of physical activity epidemiologists through programs for interns and fellows.     How do partners help you do your work? Partners help in too many ways to ever list here! To name a few though, we collaborate with other CDC groups, such as the National Center for Health Statistics, and across US Department of Health and Human Services agencies, such as the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health. These groups help us by including physical activity topics on national health surveillance systems. We also work with the US Department of Transportation on data modernization initiatives. Our non-governmental partners, including non-profit organizations, provide valuable insights on the data they need to take action. What would you like partners to know? We know a lot about what works to increase physical activity. If certain bits of information would be particularly helpful in making the case for changes in your community, please let us know! We always want to provide data that matters. Where can partners learn more about your work? Physical Activity Data and Statistic Active People Healthy NationSM Strategies to Increase Physical Activity   Favorite quote: “Wearin’ yesterday’s misfortunes like a smile…” — Kris Kristofferson   Receive this as a forwarded email? Get it directly by entering your email here and subscribing to Nutrition, Physical Activity & Obesity. Note: Website addresses of nonfederal organizations are provided solely as a service to readers. Provision of an address does not constitute an endorsement of this organization by CDC or the federal government, and none should be inferred. CDC is not responsible for the content of other organizations’ web pages.   Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1600 Clifton Rd   Atlanta, GA 30329   1-800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636)   TTY: 888-232-6348