Obesity Prevention and Control Program
About the Program: What it takes to reduce obesity
There is no single strategy that will reduce obesity and its associated health consequences. Meaningful reduction of obesity prevalence will only occur when a set of sustained, comprehensive prevention strategies are implemented by schools, the health care sector, private industry, NGOs, governmental agencies, and individual families.
These strategies will need to address policy issues; alter the environment in which we live, play and eat; modify the systems to make the healthy choice the easy choice; and increase the knowledge and change the behaviors of families, children and individuals. If it takes a village to raise a child, it will take the efforts of the entire state to reverse obesity.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends establishing a comprehensive obesity prevention initiative using evidence-based strategies to reverse the annual 1% rise in adult obesity and overweight prevalence. To design a comprehensive program in Alaska, the Obesity Prevention and Control Program (OPCP) consulted Alaskans Taking on Childhood Obesity (ATCO).
The components of this initiative are identified by the CDC as recommended strategies to prevent and reduce obesity:
Support Schools and Local Community Initiatives - Fund school districts to develop and sustain school wellness teams focused on improving the school nutrition and physical activity environment.
- Maintain a leadership role in the Food Policy Council and support the Quest Farmers’ Market expansion.
Expand Public Education Campaigns and Physical Activity Promotion
- Use proven health communications and social marketing approaches to encourage and assist Alaskans to make personal behavior choices for a healthy, active life.
- Support a school-based a physical activity challenge in partnership with Healthy Futures.
Support School Districts and Teachers
- Provide training to professionals who work with Alaska’s children to learn the most recent evidence-based strategies to prevent and reduce obesity.
Evaluate Program and Grantee Efforts
- Maintain systematic collection, analysis, evaluation and reporting of obesity prevalence and related physical activity and nutrition behaviors.
Provide Administration and Management
- Provide sufficient capacity within DHSS to will enable the Alaska OPCP to plan strategic efforts, provide strong leadership, provide good fiscal management and accountability of community grants, and foster collaboration among the state and community coalitions in a way that reduces duplication of effort among partners.
Support Schools and Local Community Initiatives
To help local communities and schools, ATCO recommends establishing a K-12 Obesity Prevention School Grant Program. These competitively selected grantees will create, implement, communicate, and enforce strong school wellness policies that support high-quality physical education, increase daily student physical activity, and improve the school nutrition environment including bringing local, farm fresh foods, Alaska fish and salad bars to schools. To address issues related to local foods, food insecurity and access to healthy foods, the CDC recommends a Food Policy Council. The OPCP will continue to play a leadership role in coordinating and supporting the Food Policy Council and in developing and expanding the Quest (Food Stamp) Farmers’ Market program.
Expand Public Education Campaigns and Physical Activity Promotion
The OPCP is inspiring children and families to be more physically active through a public education and a school-based physical activity challenge.
Public Education
The current campaign educates parents about the benefits of physical activity and provides ideas to increase the amount of physical activity for children to meet the national recommendation of 60 minutes every day needed for good health. The first phases of this multimedia campaign features TV, radio, social media and other types of media. To achieve the recommended CDC levels for campaign reach and saturation, the OPCP needs to support sustained media messages year-round and in additional markets.
Challenge Students to Be Active
The OPCP partnered with Healthy Futures to implement a school-based social support as recommended by the CDC. The public education campaign is promoting participation in the Healthy Futures Physical Activity Challenge with a goal to serve 25% of Alaska elementary school students by fall of 2014.
Percent of Alaska Elementary School Children Participating in the Healthy Futures Physical Activity Challenge,
2011 – 2013
As a result of the state's involvement with Healthy
Futures, student participation grew from 1,342 students (2%) of
elementary age in Alaska to 9,833 students (14%). Healthy Futures
expects to serve over 14,000 students (20%) of Alaska's elementary-age
students during the spring 2013 challenge.
What is the Healthy Futures Challenge?
The Healthy Futures Physical Activity Log Challenge happens twice a year in Alaska elementary schools. Elementary-age students record their physical activities and win prizes for being active.
Healthy Futures is a grassroots program that was started in 2003 by two Alaska parents who were concerned about the health of Alaska’s children. In Alaska, about three out of 10 children are overweight or obese.
Healthy Futures is the signature program of the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame. The program encourages kids to build the habit of daily physical activity through three main programs:
- Running the Physical Activity Log Challenge through Alaska elementary schools.
- Supporting community physical activity events by making them fun and affordable for families.
- Working with positive, physically active Alaska role models, including Olympians Kikkan Randall, Holly Brooks, Lars Flora and national recognized athletes like NHL star Scotty Gomez.
Support School District and Teachers
The OPCP also partners with the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development to provide professional development opportunities to school food service staff, physical education and health teachers by hosting the annual School Health & Wellness Institute. Teachers’ training has focused on implementing PE programs that increase the length of, or activity levels in, school-based physical education classes. School food service staff training has focused on increasing the number of salad bars in schools, improving the connection to local farmers and gardens, and increasing the amount of wild Alaska fish served in school.
Evaluate Program and Grantee Efforts
The OPCP partnered with the Anchorage, Matanuska Susitna Borough and Kenai Peninsula Borough school districts to collect and analyze student heights and weight. Data is essential to school districts as an evaluation measure of the effectiveness of school district wellness policies, practices, programs and efforts to improve school health.
Administer and Manage Programs
Ensuring sufficient administrative and management capacity within a DHSS will enable the OPCP to plan strategic efforts, provide strong leadership, provide good fiscal management and accountability of activities, and foster collaboration among the state and community coalitions in a way that reduces duplication of effort among partners. An adequate number of skilled staff is also necessary to provide program oversight, technical assistance, and training for the public and partners.