After a 2011 study showed that 32 percent of Jefferson County’s adult residents are obese, Fort HealthCare set out to make a change.
In an effort to address the higher-than-state-average obesity rate, several community coalitions were formed with the goal of providing and promoting healthy choices throughout the county. Among those was Fort Healthy, which is headed by former Rockwell Elementary School principal Vicki Wright.
“That first community coalition meeting held by the hospital … really stuck with me,” Wright said. “Seventy percent of all disease is driven by lifestyle. Seventy percent of all reasons people go to the doctor are caused by what we do or what we don’t do.”
Healthy living always has been important to Wright, and now that she is retired from education she teaches fitness classes to seniors.
“A big thing for me is to keep yourself healthy, so you don’t have to spend all of your time going to the doctor,” Wright emphasized. “If our population doesn’t take a serious look at keeping themselves healthy, we are just going to go bankrupt.”
Fort HealthCare President Mike Wallace spoke to the community during that first meeting about many of the concerns Wright expressed, spreading the idea of making Jefferson County one of the healthiest counties in the state, thus improving Wisconsin’s ranking among healthy states.
As of today, Wright said Wisconsin is ranked the 24th healthiest state. Other local Healthy Community Coalitions, created through partnerships with Fort HealthCare, include: Jefferson United Motivating People to Wellness, Cambridge Wellness Collaborative, Creek Healthy Initiative Coalition, Working for Whitewater’s Wellness, Lake Mills Wellness Coalition, and Eat Here Eat Well.
Committed to greater engagement in the overall health of the community, these coalitions works to reduce obesity among residents in Jefferson County and the surrounding areas. The goal of each coalition is to provide information, education, programs and tools that the surrounding communities can put in place to help individuals and families enjoy good health now and in the future.
Coalition membership includes representatives from local schools, churches, government agencies, businesses, community organizations and interested individuals. All are engaged in a concerted effort to reduce the obesity rate throughout the Jefferson County area.
Each of the community coalitions have developed strategies to implement in their local communities, focusing on the following priorities:
• Increase access to healthy food options.
• Apply incentives to improve nutrition.
• Institute workplace incentives to reward increased physical activity.
• Educate and inform the public about serving sizes and nutritional content of food options available in public areas.
• Implement comprehensive programs that promote physical activity and nutrition.
• Increase access to opportunities and facilities that promote physical activity.
Over the years, Wright said each community coalition has re-evaluated its individual priorities, concentrating what might be most important in the different areas.
“And each city kind of has their own group, their own focus and their own ideas all under the same umbrella,” added Kayla Oschmann, a Fort Healthy member. “Fort Healthy is about wanting people to put their health first, and putting more effort into their health and importance of it down the line.
“It may not effect them right now, but it could catch up to them,” she added. “There’s always options out there. There’s always something people can be doing, and we want to help put that out there for them.”
The community coalitions’ plans include strategies and tactics that address public policy, the environment and the community, as well as organizational and individual change.
“We have a lot of different campaigns, and each year we seem to expand and do more,” Oschmann said.
In 2013, Fort Healthy focused on water with the “Rethink Your Drink” campaign. The coalition promoted the idea of drinking more water and selecting water over less healthy options. It also introduced different ways to steer away from sugar, such as putting fruit in water to give a sweet taste.
To promote the campaign in the schools, Oschmann — who works in the public relations department at Opportunities, Inc. — created posters of each high school principal in the School District of Fort Atkinson drinking water to hang in the hallways of each school.
Additionally, Fort Healthy helped schools buy a water refill station, which is a type of water fountain with a spout specially designed to fill water bottles. Fort Healthy awarded each school that installed a water refill station a $300 grant to put toward the purchase.
“They liked them so much there are now three at the high school, two at Purdy Elementary, two at the middle school and each elementary school has one,” Wright said.
In the future, Oschmann said Fort Healthy would like to purchase a similar water fountain to be placed along the city bike path.
“We’re looking at something we can have physically out in the community,” she said.
The coalition also recently teamed up with the Boys and Girls Club of Fort Atkinson, the Fort Atkinson Senior Center and Blackhawk Fitness to create bucket gardens.
“(Participants) could have their own little deck garden in a bucket that is easy to care for and that provides healthy choices,” Oschmann explained.
Fort Healthy’s focus this year was on its bi-weekly “Simple Swaps” article, published in the Daily Jefferson County Union on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month. The short articles, which are written by Fort Healthy members, feature tips and advice on how to make living a healthy lifestyle simple.
“My big thing is focusing on the basics — simple things that people forget,” Oschmann indicated. “Being healthy doesn’t have to be hard.”
Fort Healthy’s largest event is its annual health and wellness expo, “Get Pumped.” Last year’s expo featured healthy food samples, educational fitness sessions, a yoga demonstration, raffles, cooking demonstrations, children’s crafts and activities, and on-hand health professionals.
Next year, “Get Pumped” will be held on Jan. 14 at the Fort Atkinson High School, 925 Lexington Blvd.
New for the coalition this coming year will be an award for businesses or organizations which go above and beyond in promoting health. Candidates will be nominated by the community and a winner chosen by Fort Healthy.
Winners will have their names added to a plaque to be displayed at Fort Memorial Hospital. Interested community members are encouraged to contact a coalition member and discuss ways to participate. Most coalitions hold regular monthly meetings.
The Fort Atkinson organization meets on the fourth Monday of every month at the Dwight Foster Public Library.
from myhealtyze http://www.myhealtyze.tk/fort-healthy-seeks-to-improve-jefferson-countys-wellness-daily-union/
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