|
Thurston County Public
Health & Social Services envisions a community where
Thurston County’s children and their families are
daily making healthy food choices and engaging in
regular physical activity.
We work together with our
community to create neighborhoods that support and
foster healthy children and families – encouraging the
education, health care, environments and policies
needed to promote a healthy weight and thereby
prevent chronic disease.
|
Thurston County developed a Healthy
Child Weight (HCW) Initiative to address the increasing
problems of physical inactivity, poor nutrition and obesity
among the county’s children.
The initiative has focused on:
|
- Building partnerships with
child-serving organizations, particularly family
practice and pediatric health care clinics.
- Preparing partners to participate in
the prevention of childhood obesity.
- Fostering changes in the community
environment to support healthier eating and
increased physical activity.
|
|
To date, the health department (TCPHSS), has held in-service presentations and a
forum for pediatric care providers (see the
Partnerships with Health Care
page for more information) and conducted community
engagement, which focused on development of child obesity
prevention strategies with community
advisors and a newly formed coalition (see
2010 Strategy Report).
|
| Thurston County encourages
children and their families to follow some simple
steps toward staying healthy and preventing chronic
illness through the number 7-5-2-1-0: |
| |
7 - |
Eat
breakfast every day. |
|
5 - |
Eat 5
or more servings of fruits and vegetables every day.
|
|
2 - |
Limit screen time (time in front of a computer, television
or video games) unrelated to school to 2
hours or less daily. |
| |
1 - |
Get 1 hour or more of moderate to
vigorous physical activity every day. |
| |
0 - |
Drink less sugar.
Try water and low-fat milk instead of
sugar-sweetened drinks.
|
| |
|
Click Here...To print a 7-5-2-1-0 Healthy Child
Weight Flyer [PDF] - 6.62MB
|
|
Current activities for the initiative include: |
- Building a stronger childhood obesity prevention
coalition.
- Promoting breastfeeding through health care
providers and employers.
- Supporting policy and practice changes with local
partners designed to increase access to healthy eating
and physical activity.
The county-wide Healthy Child Weight Coalition formed in
2010 to increase collaboration among organizations and
individuals to ensure improved health outcomes in this area
for Thurston County children.
...more
|
TCPHSS participates in the South Sound Breastfeeding
Network.
TCPHSS also participates in the Community Transformation
Grant with Washington State Department
of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. Two projects are underway:
| |
-
Community Garden Project:
TCPHSS has completed an assessment of community
gardens in Thurston County with support from
local partners. TCPHSS will also assist the
community in establishing five new garden sites
by the fall of 2014. The project will increase
access to healthy foods.
|
| |
-
Safe Routes to School:
Working with two
North Thurston elementary schools, TCPHSS will
update school walking route maps, conduct
educational activities, and start walking school
buses with the aim of increasing physical
activity among children through walking and
bicycling to school.
|
|
|
Thurston County Public Health & Social Services staff
continues to connect with partners in the community and
supports projects like the
Active Community Environments work of Thurston Regional
Planning Council and its partners.
|
We envision a community of
active, healthy children and families
Please join us in the effort to promote healthy child
weight in Thurston County. If you would like to take part
in the discussions with our department or take action on a
strategy, please contact Chris Hawkins, Active Healthy
Communities Coordinator at (360) 867-2513 or send
an
E-mail.
|
