Eat Smart. Play Hard.™ Marches on Over 5 Years Later!
The Eat Smart. Play Hard.™ campaign launched by USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) in 2000 is entering an exciting new phase. At the FNS 2nd National Nutrition Education Conference in September 2005, FNS revealed the Campaign spokescharacter, Power Panther’s new, revitalized look. Power Panther also introduced his nephew, Slurp, a new character that will appear with Power Panther in various educational and promotional materials. FNS will also make new educational and promotional materials available to state and local staff that can be downloaded from the Eat Smart. Play Hard.TM Web site (http://www.fns.usda.gov/eatsmartplayhard). New resources include items such as a sticker/activity book, lesson plans for adults and children, new images of Power Panther and Slurp, comics, and activity sheets. Some materials will be available in both English and Spanish. Visit the “What’s New?” section of the Eat Smart. Play Hard.TM Web site for more information and updates.
The goal of the Eat Smart.Play Hard.TM campaign is to encourage school-aged children, especially tweens, and their parents and caregivers to adopt healthy eating and physical activity behaviors. Power Panther, serves as a communication vehicle to spread the themes and messages of eating breakfast, healthy snacks, being physically active, and balancing what you eat with physical activity. So far, Power Panther has visited 46 U.S. states and territories.
The Environmental Nutrition and Activity Community Tool (ENACT)
The Strategic Alliance for Healthy Food and Activity Environments — an alliance of California's leading public health and health care, parks & recreation, transportation, physical activity and nutrition organizations — has developed the Environmental Nutrition and Activity Community Tool (ENACT) to guide local efforts to improve nutrition and physical activity environments. The tool offers an array of achievable actions for making improvements to eating and activity environments in seven sectors: neighborhoods, schools, preschool and day care sites, after school programs, workplace environments, health care, and government. As an online electronic resource, ENACT is being continually updated to provide practical "how-to" information to implement each strategy, including model policies and programs, tools, success stories, data & evaluation, relevant publications and resources.
ENACT is a hands-on assessment and planning resource for organizations, coalitions and communities interested in improving their nutrition and physical activity environments. The tool can be used on a yearly basis to evaluate past and current efforts around nutrition and physical activity improvements and offer new priorities for the year ahead. For maximum effectiveness, ENACT can be used with a broad range of partners, from community residents to businesses, from teachers to students, from government officials to health care professionals. The Strategic Alliance has recently developed a new interactive functionality for ENACT. This new function allows visitors to assess their status and rank their priorities for any of the strategies in each of the seven ENACT sectors. The results are saved for future reference and can be updated at any time and can be used to guide a group’s efforts to improve nutrition and activity environments. ENACT provides a road map for change, offering a practical starting place for communities and making healthy eating and regular activity a realistic option for everyone. Visit the Strategic Alliance Web site and experience ENACT for yourself at http://www.eatbettermovemore.org.
The Local Policy Tracking Database
Widespread attention to the damaging effects of unhealthy eating and activity environments has sparked action at the local level. Local policy has been a catalyst for policy adoption and implementation in other local jurisdictions, as well as an impetus for state and federal change. Prevention Institute is developing a Local Policy Database designed to provide community advocates, health professionals, policy-makers and other stakeholders with concrete examples of policies that have been adopted by local entities. The online, searchable database will allow people to share and learn about local efforts that create opportunities for healthy eating and physical activity.
The Local Policy Database will include actual policy language along with descriptive information about the policy and the locales where it has been adopted. While current resources are mostly dedicated to identifying and documenting local policies in California, Prevention Institute is very eager to include the work and success from other locales. If you are interested in learning more about the Local Policy Database, or if you would like to contribute a local policy, please contact Manal J. Aboelata, MPH, at 323-296-5750 or manal@preventioninstitute.org.
Information on the Role of Soy and Good Health
SANA, Soyfoods Association of North America, is offering a comprehensive information packet designed to help the public reach their dietary goals with soy. Topics include soy and heart health, children, weight management and the dietary guidelines. Also included are fact sheets on soy products with tips on how to incorporate soy into any diet. The packet is colorful, easy to read and is geared to help your clients understand the benefits of eating healthy with soy. For More Information,
e-mail: health@soyfoods.org or visit: http://www.soyfoods.org .
Interested in Nutrition Meetings and Conferences?
The NIH Division of Nutrition Research Coordination (DNRC) provides a calendar of nurtrition meetings, conferences, and activities at http://www.dnrc.nih.gov/dnrc/calendar.htm .
Disclaimer: The Food and Nutrition Resource listing may contain materials, information or links to Web sites that are created and maintained by other organizations. The Food and Nutrition Section does not necessarily endorse the views expressed or information provided by other organizations, nor does it guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any of the information provided.