Eat Well, Play More Tennessee
Tennessee now has a comprehensive, statewide nutrition and physical activity plan: Eat Well, Play
More Tennessee. This five-year plan provides a comprehensive roadmap to reduce obesity and
chronic disease in Tennessee by 2015.
The primary focus of Eat Well, Play More Tennessee is to create policy and environmental
changes in the places where people live, work, learn, play and pray that will improve the health of
Tennesseans of all ages and abilities. The plan focuses on numerous target areas and vulnerable
populations: healthy and affordable food availability in low-income areas; breastfeeding initiation
and duration, which is clinically proven to reduce the risk of pediatric overweight; sugar-sweetened
beverages, which according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2009
is the single largest driver of the obesity epidemic. Other focus areas include: built environment and
transportation facilities; parks and recreation; screen time at the computer and watching television;
early childcare; schools; health systems; faith-based settings; work sites; aging populations; mental
health and disabled populations; African American and Latino populations and rural communities.
The Eat Well, Play More Tennessee plan and information on how to become involved can be found
online at www.eatwellplaymoretn.org .
Summer outdoor festivals remind us to take care
Summer is a favorite time of year, but recent reports from outdoor festivals remind us to take care: the summer sun can burn, heat dehydrates and high humidity impairs the body’s ability to keep cool. Sunscreen should be applied 30 minutes before going out and should be reapplied. Hats are protective. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control recommend drinking more than your thirst indicates, with cool, non-alcoholic beverages preferred. Be sensible in scheduling outdoor activities and pace yourself. Heat exhaustion and heat stroke can be serious so recognize early signs. A cool shower or moving to an air-conditioned place are good ways to cool off.
Health Rankings Were Announced This Week February 17, 2010
County-by-county health rankings were announced this week (February 17, 2010) allowing those of us in Montgomery County to compare ourselves to others across the state. Montgomery County ranked well: 10th of the 95 counties in terms of health outcomes – things like premature death, reported health and low birth weight of infants. Unfortunately, when looking at health factors that support those outcomes, we ranked much lower: only 41st. Health behaviors, clinical care, social-economic factors and the physical environment all contribute to understanding health factors. Specific factors of concern include adult smoking, binge drinking, the chlamydia rate, the teen birth rate, primary care providers, hospice use, air pollution and access to healthy foods.
The information has been published by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. For more information and to view all counties, see http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/
Holiday Stress
Holiday: A day free from work that one may spend at leisure, especially … to commemorate or celebrate a particular event (Online Free Dictionary).
Sure, our holidays are all of that, but they can be a source of stress as well. Since we don’t want to avoid holidays, our best bet is to manage our stress levels. A recent newspaper article discussed advances in our understanding of the role moderate exercise plays on stress. The brain patterns of rats who exercised were different from patterns of those who didn’t. Climb out of the car, push away from the table, pop up from the couch. Think about taking a walk along the new and beautiful Clarksville Greenways path on Pollard Road (off Peachers Mill Road). The three-mile trail is paved and includes benches and scenic-view swings for rest stops.
In the news
Montgomery County nonprofits score big
The Leaf Chronicle, October 13, 2009
The Clarksville-Montgomery County Community Health Foundation awarded four grants totaling more than $315,000 to local nonprofit groups on Monday.
The money will go to the Austin Peay State University Foundation for nursing student grants, to APSU nursing program for a pilot program, to Mission Clarksville and to Urban Ministries for H1N1 flu shots.
The Community Health Foundation is a nonprofit organization that was created jointly by the city of Clarksville, Montgomery County and the former Gateway Hospital Board of Trustees in February 2006. It operates for charitable, scientific and educational purposes, and is designed to promote the health of Montgomery County residents and people in the surrounding area.
Monday’s grant awards were the first for the Foundation, which was established to oversee money gained from the sale of the former Gateway Medical Center on Madison Street, and other assets such as property owned by the former Hospital Board.
“It’s exciting to move into what we are supposed to be doing,” said Ben Kimbrough Sr., Foundation chairman, indicating that previous meetings of the Foundation have been organizational…
THE NEW FLU
Scary stories about the flu swirl around like the germs in sneezes and coughing. Reliable and up-to-date information on the H1N1 flu, commonly called the swine flu, can be obtained from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) dedicated website: 2009 H1N1 Flu http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/. The website includes how to care for a sick person, information on vaccines and antiviral medication, and recommendations for specific groups. There is a map that tracks reported flu across the U.S. (Tennessee was one of 11 states reporting widespread flu activity during the first week of September.) Everyday actions to stay healthy include
• Covering your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
• Washing your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective.
• Avoiding touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.
• Staying home if you get sick. CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.
Harvest Glories
Although spring is the season of hope and new growth, summer and fall bring the glory of abundant produce and the promise of health. Farm stands blossom along the roads and the Downtown Saturday market is flourishing. Use fruits to replace packaged sweets. Fruits are the original sweet – think of those bright melons, yielding peaches and plums, crisp grapes to name but a few! Fresh produce has the highest vitamin and mineral content – and by fresh we mean recently picked. That’s the merit of local products (beyond the value of supporting one’s “neighbors”). Fruits and vegetables also provide a variety of phytochemicals – you may know them as antioxidants. There are so many that supplements can NOT compare with real food. Studies suggest that higher consumption of fruits and vegetables (in a pattern that includes whole grains and low-fat milk products) is linked to lower rates of heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer and diabetes.
Now is a great time to introduce children, especially adolescents, to a variety of fruits and vegetables, and to get into the habit of enjoying these delicious, low-calorie, high-nutrient delights!
