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Community Program's 2008 Activities PDF Print E-mail
Statewide Active Living Community Training Program

Physical inactivity has been known to cause both physical and mental health problems, is responsible for an estimated 200,000 deaths per year, and contributes to the nation’s obesity epidemic.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than half of U.S. adults are not active at all.  Physical activity declines dramatically with age during adolescence, in fact two-thirds of young people, grades 9-12 are not engaged in recommended levels of physical activity. As a results, rates of overweight and obese are the highest they have been in the last century.  Both the proportion of youth who are overweight and the number of adults who are obese has more than doubled in the last 20 years.

A growing number of studies have shown that these rates are not due entirely to food consumption and inactivity, but due instead to the fact we have engineered physical activity out of our lives.  The design of our communities including neighborhoods, cities, transportation systems, parks, trails and other public recreational facilities affects the ability of people to reach the recommended minutes of physical activity.

By designing communities that promote physical activity, or “active living communities,” we can encourage individuals to be more physically active and improve the health of individuals.  Recent studies have identified that people in active living communities are more likely to be active during their leisure time.  Active living communities are designed to provide environments that encourage individuals to be more physically active and to eat healthier.  Government agencies, researchers and policy makers are working towards the development of policies and interventions that encourage the creation of active living communities that address these growing health concerns.  Examples of these policies and programs include bicycle/pedestrian oriented design, complete streets, mixed use developments and safe routes to school programs.

The Hawaii State Department of Health, Healthy Hawaii Initiative is planning to host a series of Active Living Community Workshops and Trainings across the state in 2008. The series will consist of twelve (12) Active Living Community Workshops, five (5) Local Leadership Trainings, five (5) Active Living Community Trainer Development sessions, two (2) Policy Development and Advocacy Trainings, and one (1) Policy Makers Workshop. These workshops and trainings will be conducted on Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Kauai, and Hawaii at various times throughout the year. A national consultant, that’s an expert in walkable, bicycle-friendly, community design and policy development, will be brought in to conduct the workshops and trainings. 

The Active Living Community Workshops will be designed to help community members understand how community design can promote active lifestyles and good health, how they can participate in designing and implementing changes in their communities, how they can work together with government agencies and developers to shape their communities, and how to advocate for healthy neighborhood design.
 
The Local Leadership Trainings will consist of participants recruited from each Active Living Community Workshop that will be trained as active living leaders for their communities. This group of engaged residents will be trained to continue working toward Active Living outcomes; they will become the nucleus of a community action team.
 
The Active Living Community Trainer Development Session will develop an interdisciplinary team of workshop facilitators who have the skills and experience to implement Active Living Community Workshops throughout the state. These people will be recruited from health, planning, engineering, public safety, private development, and related disciplines.
 
The Policy Development and Advocacy trainings will be held in Hawaii County and on Oahu for participants that are currently engaged in working on policy issues around the built environment. They will be trained to develop skills and specific plans to move the Active Living Community agenda forward.
 
The Policy Makers Workshop is a high level workshop that will be designed for policy makers including elected and appointed officials. The purpose of this workshop will be to educate and impart to the highest city, county and state officials an understanding of the importance of physical activity promotion and the enormous potential of the Active Living Community approach.
 
Hawaii PAN Forum

Due to several requests from the 2007 Physical Activity and Nutrition Summit participants, it was determined to provide a follow-up Forum to present additional information and updates on programs that were highlighted last fall.  This year the focus will continue to emphasize impacts of the built environment and to provide opportunities for participants to obtain tangible tools that will lead to policy and environmental changes in their workplaces, schools and community.  The Forum will be held in October 2008, please stay tuned for more information.
 
Hawaii PAN Newsletter

The Department of Health, Healthy Hawaii Initiative will publish a quarterly newsletter to help increase awareness of PAN programs, projects, and initiatives in our state and nationally.  The newsletter will also develop a method of communication and linkages for Hawaii physical activity and nutrition professionals and others interested in these issues.  The newsletter will be sent to a list of PAN professionals and will also be posted on the Healthy Hawaii Initiative website www.healthyhawaii.com.

Please e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it   if you’d like to receive the newsletter, if you’d like your program to be highlighted in an upcoming newsletter, or if you have any news you’d like to share with other PAN partners in Hawaii.  Newsletters will be published quarterly in March, June, September, and December.

Worksite WellnessBecause the majority of Americans spend most of their waking hours at work, the worksite is an ideal setting to address health, well-being, and the prevention of chronic disease. Recent empirical research validates that health promotion programs at the worksite can improve health, save money and produce a return on investment.
 
The Department proposes as a public health strategy to reach the most people through systems changes.  Worksite health promotion is a way to work with organizations to impact their policies, work cultures and practices.  The work environment helps employees adopt and practice healthy behaviors.  By reducing the risk for disease, people will more likely experience increased years of healthy life and lower healthcare costs.  
 

This year, HHI will work to develop worksite wellness opportunities within the state. 


Community Level Interventions

Community Level Interventions are funded by the Tobacco Settlement Special Fund, Healthy Hawaii Initiative, Hawaii State Department of Health through a competitive Request For Proposal (RFP) process.
 
  • The UH Department of Kinesiology & Leisure Science was awarded funding for project “Makana Nui: Making Activity Kind, Accessible, Nurturing & Active with Nutrition for You and I”.  The project will implement a nutrition education and developmentally appropriate physical activity program in seven Summer Fun programs on Oahu in the summer of 2008.
Food Stamp Nutrition Education programs

Community Food Stamp Nutrition Education Programs are being held at Kalihi-Palama Health Center and Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Centers. The Food Stamp Nutrition Program is a federally funded program through USDA.
  • Kalihi-Palama Health Center is developing Nutrition Education Toolkits to use in their existing patient groups. The toolkit will include a community food & fitness module to be used at community and cultural events. They plan to develop and add two educational web pages to their website as well.
  • Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center will be developing and conducting bi-monthly nutrition education/wellness classes to be conducted at the WCCHC Malama Ola Fitness Center. They will also develop and offer quarterly supermarket tours and vegetable gardening workshops.
 
 
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