Fighting Obesity With Physical Activity Programs
May is National Physical Fitness and Sports Month  and it’s an excellent opportunity to promote physical activity in your community. As anyone interested in health issues (or anyone, period) knows, obesity is an increasing problem and tends to be even more of a problem in rural areas. The opportunities for physical activity are generally more limited than in cities and suburbs. I think there’s still a misguided belief that living in the country is healthier—all that outside work on the farm, walking to the one room school house….  This article from last month outlines the challenges rural communities face in providing fitness opportunities. The March issue of Health Affairs, a journal devoted to… health affairs, was dedicated to childhood obesity. Over a dozen articles (all downloadable) explore this problem from various aspects, including the impact of the lack of recreational options, agricultural policy and personal responsibility in addressing the issue.
Let’s Move is the program introduced earlier this year by First Lady Michelle Obama.  The goal is to give parents the support and resources they need to work with their children, provide healthier food options in schools, help kids be more physically active, and make healthy, affordable food available in every part of the country. The website has a lot of resources and program ideas, including those to increase physical activity. How about planning a Kids Walk to School program?Â
And here are some grant opportunities you can use to improve physical activity options in your community.
The Wisconsin Partnership Program at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health awards grants to programs that focus on health promotion, disease prevention, health policy and health disparities. They’re especially interested in wellness programs—projects that will increase fitness options and reduce obesity would be a good match. They make one year program development grants and multi-year implementation grants. Recipients are paired with academic partners to help develop and implement programs. The Program is very good about providing technical assistance and proposal writing workshops. A letter of intent (a brief program outline) is due June 18.
The WI Department of Transportation plans to release guidelines for the Safe Routes to School program in July. They will fund programs that enable and encourage children to walk and bike to school in a safe manner. The site has information on additional pedestrian and bike safety resources.
The Pepsi Refresh Project is using an interesting approach to selecting proposals for funding. There is a monthly application period, then visitors to the website vote on proposals.   They’re accepting proposal in several categories, including Health and Neighborhoods. This could be a good way to involve the entire community in voting for your proposal. Voting ends January 31, 2011.
The Charles Lafitte Foundation awards grants to programs that improve children’s health and promote healthy life styles through their Medical Issues and Research Program. No deadlines.
May 7, 2010
· 
KJacobson · 
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Tags: Children's Health, Community Development, Grant Opportunities & Assistance, Public Health, Reports and Studies, Wellness · Posted in: Grant Advice, Reports and Studies
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