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a healthy dose of
information
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Updates for the
week of February 20, 2006
Steps to a Healthier WA News and Upcoming Activities
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Our next Community Conference
Call will be March 22, from 11:00am to 12:00pm, PST. Please call
1-800-490-7515 and enter code 3579438 to participate.
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Our next
Monthly Steps Communications Call with CDC will be
February 22, from 11:00am to 12:00pm, PST. Please call
1-800-857-7673 and enter code 97057 to participate.
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Health and Health Care in
Schools. The
February issue of Health and Health Care in Schools
is now available online. This issue includes such articles
as: “Survey Finds Increase in Drug Use Before Age 13,”
“Screening High School Students for Suicide Risk: A Report
on the Suicide Risk Screen,” and “Marketing to the Young:
The Tobacco Industry and Flavored Cigarettes.”
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“Facing the diabetes epidemic”
The New England
Journal of Medicine
(02/09/06) Robert Steinbrook
In this article, Dr. Robert
Steinbrook describes New York City’s new diabetes
initiative, which requires laboratories to report
glycosylated hemoglobin values to the city’s Department of
Health and Mental Hygiene to track the diabetes epidemic.
The program was developed in response to rising rates of
diabetes, which is now the fifth most common cause of death
in New York City. The program, implemented last month,
requires the city’s laboratories to report test results
electronically. The data will then be placed in a registry
linked to patient information. The goal of the registry is
to map the epidemiology of hyperglycemia and to monitor the
epidemic. According to Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden,
“This knowledge should be very powerful for assessing how we
are doing on a population basis and in reaching out to
doctors and, through doctors wherever possible, to their
patients to provide more support.” The health department
hopes to begin a pilot intervention program in the South
Bronx, a neighborhood known to have a high incidence of
diabetes, in 2007.
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“Reality shapes Disney garb”
Los Angeles Times (02/09/06) Roy Rivenburg
American businesses are facing
the realities of an increasingly obese workforce. Officials
at Disneyland’s Magic Kingdom are redesigning costumes to
accommodate bigger employees -- ride operators, shop clerks,
wait staff, and others. The amusement park, long known for
its exacting standards for employee appearance, still makes
employees sign contracts requiring medical leaves for
workers who are “unable to maintain their physical
proportions,” but the clause is no longer enforced.
“Disneyland can’t be as picky as it used to be,” said theme
park scholar Jamie O’Boyle. Wardrobe sizes now range from 2
to 30 for women, and waste sizes up to 58 inches for men.
The move marks a big change from the park’s practices in the
1960s and 70s, when high school and college student
applicants were abundant, said David Koenig, author of a
Disney history book. “For many positions, there were size
restrictions,” he said. Other employers are facing similar
issues with employee weight. The airline industry lost a
series of lawsuits, forcing it to abandon weight limits for
flight attendants, and the military has taken a closer look
at weight standards and recruitment levels. Some employers,
concerned about rising health insurance costs, are
encouraging employees to lose weight. “Obesity is the issue
du jour. It’s everywhere you turn,” said Bill O’Brien, an
employment attorney. [Editor’s note: For information on the
American obesity epidemic from CDC’s Division of Nutrition
and Physical Activity, visit:
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/.]
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“Where there’s smoke, there’s ire”
Chicago Tribune (02/12/06) Pamela Dittmer McKuen
Condominium owners are turning
increasingly to courts and condo associations in their
efforts to strike a balance between the rights of smokers
and nonsmokers. Smoke wafting between condos is most
prevalent in units that are stacked or that share central
heating and ventilation systems, but smoke can also invade
side-by-side town houses. To combat the problem,
associations have tried such tactics as banning smoking in
or near common areas, or levying fines on smokers. Only a
few associations have prohibited smoking in privately-owned
units, although attorneys agree that the association could
do so by amending governing documents. But condo
associations are hesitant to prohibit smoking altogether,
since many owners are opposed to regulating people’s
behavior in their own homes. “I own this condo and it’s not
against the law for me to smoke at home,” said Kathy Posner,
a smoker who lives in a Chicago building that recently
attempted to ban smoking, “If my smoke is bothering other
unit owners, then they can put air purifiers in their own
units. It’s not my problem.” Christine Athanasoulis cited
her association’s nuisance clause to complain about a
smoking neighbor. “Everybody seems to think, ‘It’s my
property, I can do what I want.’ The problem is, your smoke
doesn’t stay in your unit. It travels,” she said. Legal
experts say lawsuits against associations are a gamble, and
verdicts have been mixed. Almost all verdicts have come from
lower-level courts, which may be persuasive in other
jurisdictions, but do not set legal precedents.
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Girl Scouts Publish Study
Findings on “New Normal” for Adolescent Health
The New Normal? What Girls Say About Healthy Living,
combines focus group research with a nationally
representative online survey of more than 2,000 eight- to
17-year-old girls from different racial, ethnic, geographic,
and socio-economic backgrounds. The study yields four broad
findings: for most girls, being healthy has more to do with
appearing "normal" and feeling accepted than maintaining
good diet and exercise habits; emotional health, self-esteem
and body image play a critical role in girls' attitudes
about diet and exercise; girls have basic knowledge about
healthy eating but often don't act on this knowledge, and
many regularly make poor diet and exercise choices; and
mothers exert tremendous influence as the most frequently
cited source of health information and as role models for
their daughters. [Girl Scouts]
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Tools
Grant and Funding Opportunities
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Pro Walk/Pro Bike 2006 Call
for Presentations:
The submission proposal
DEADLINE is March 1, 2006
The National Center for Bicycling & Walking is accepting
presentation proposals for the Pro Walk/Pro Bike 2006
conference. Pro Walk/Pro Bike is our biennial conference for
the growing number of professionals and advocates involved
in the bicycling and walking fields. Our first conference
was held in in 1980 in Asheville, North Carolina. Our most
recent conference was held in 2004 in Victoria, British
Columbia. This year's conference will be held in Madison,
Wisconsin, from September 5-8.
You'll be notified on or before March 30 if your
presentation has been accepted.
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NEW: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Announces New
Initiative to Promote Healthy Eating Among Children
Deadline: March 7, 2006
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (
http://www.rwjf.org/ ) has launched
Healthy Eating Research (http://www.healthyeatingresearch.org/
), a five-year, $16 million program to
evaluate changes in policies and environments that can
promote healthy eating among children.
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Call for Abstracts: Rural
Women's Health Conference
Announcement: Call for Abstracts deadline March 17
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tell your colleagues!
More Information at:
www.hmc.psu.edu/ce/RWH2006
or 717-531-6483
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Starbucks Foundation: Literacy programs that address 21st
Century learning
Deadlines: March 1 and September 1, 2006
The Starbucks Foundation funds programs for youth ages 6-18
that integrate literacy with personal and civic action in
the communities where they live. The Starbucks Foundation
invites letters of inquiry from qualifying 501(c) 3
organizations that work with underserved youth in the fields
of literacy (reading, writing, and creative/media arts) and
environmental literacy. Grants range from $5,000-$20,000.
For more information, go to:
http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/grantinfo.asp.
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Learn and Serve America Community-Based Grant
Program.
Due Date: March 7,2006 Match Requirement
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Robert Wood Johnson: Active Living By Design
Grants
Due date: May 10, 2006 at 1:00 p.m. PDT
Active Living Research is a $12.5 million national program
to stimulate and support research that will identify
environmental factors and policies that influence physical
activity. Findings are expected to inform environmental and
policy changes that will promote active living among
Americans, both young and old. This research will help
increase our understanding of the relationship of
environmental characteristics to physical activity for three
priority topics: young people’s use of parks, physical
activity in and around buildings, and physical activity in
rural areas. Evaluations of community interventions that are
part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Active Living
by Design program also will be supported. The research
funded under this call for proposals will inform the Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation’s efforts to help halt the
increasing prevalence of childhood obesity by 2015.
For more information, please visit the
Active Living Research Web site.
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9th annual National Native
American Youth Initiative program:
National Native American Youth Initiative (NNAYI) June 17th
- 25th, 2006 The Association of American Indian Physicians
is now accepting applications for the 9th annual National
Native American Youth Initiative program to be held June
17th-25th 2006 in Washington D.C. Application deadline is
April 20, 2006.
http://www.aaip.com
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Women's Health Funding Opportunities:
http://www.naccho.org/topics/fundingguide/fundingmap.cfm |
Report
Conferences or
Training
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Satellite and internet
broadcast, UNC Minority Health Conference:
8th Annual William T. Small, Jr. Keynote Lecture,
"Collaborative Research with Communities: Value Added and
Challenges Faced"
February 24 (Friday), 2-3:30 p.m. EST
The William and Ida Friday Continuing Education Center,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Speaker: Professor Meredith Minkler, Dr.P.H., UC
Berkeley SPH professor of health and social behavior. The
complex nature of many minority health problems and the
failure of much traditional research to acknowledge the
strengths of communities of color as potential partners in
research have lead to growing excitement over a new paradigm
that stresses action-oriented research with, rather than on,
minority communities. This keynote presentation will use
case studies to illustrate the value added for communities
and health researchers by community-based participatory
research approaches. Core principles of such collaborative
research will be illustrated, as will the ways in which this
approach builds community capacity, focuses research
questions on health issues that matter to minority
communities, improves cultural sensitivity in all phases of
the research process, and helps translate findings into
action to help eliminate health disparities.
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Improving Nutrition and
Reducing Obesity: Local Government Strategies:
The International City/County Management Association (ICMA),
the premier local government leadership and management
organization, will offer Improving Nutrition and Reducing
Obesity: Local Government Strategies, on Thursday, March
2, 2006, from 2-3:30 p.m. EST. This 90-minute web cast will
provide strategic, practical tools communities can use to
develop policies and implement practices that reduce obesity
by improving access to nutritious food. The web cast will
feature Mark Winne, a food policy expert who has extensive
experience working with communities, including the City of
Hartford, Conn., Rosemarie Cordello with the
Portland/Multnomah County Food Policy Council, as well as
representatives from jurisdictions that have successfully
applied these techniques. This web cast, which is free to the
first 100 registrants, addresses the ICMA University
Practice Area #6, Strategic Leadership. For more information
about the web cast, call toll-free at 877/ 865-4326.
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Washington State Diabetes Network Second
Annual Meeting
Save the Date – March 14, 2006 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Tukwila Area
More than 1.4 million people in Washington have either
diabetes or pre-diabetes. In order to prevent this costly,
disabling disease and improve the health and longevity of
those living with diabetes, nothing less than the
coordinated effort of everyone working on diabetes
prevention and control throughout the state is required.
Join the Washington State Diabetes Network at its second
annual meeting to enhance the work of diabetes prevention
and control on March 14, 2006.
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"Obesity: An Urgent Public Health Priority,"
is Wednesday, March 15, 2006, Shoreline Conference Center,
Seattle, WA. Scholarships are available to all who
ask, or until the funds are exhausted. There is no need to
qualify. Scholarships are for $100, registrant pays $95, for
the 1 day conference. Anyone interested in receiving a
scholarship can contact
jokamura@u.washington.edu
or (206) 685-1288. On-line registration is not available so
registration needs to be mailed or faxed.
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International Congress on Physical
Activity and Public Health
April 17-20, 2006
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The Association of State and Territorial
Directors of Nursing (ASTDN) continuing education day is May
2nd at the downtown Seattle Hilton. "Healthy Equity: From
Knowledge to Action," is an intense focus on health
disparities and articulating the public health role in
eliminating disparities. The draft conference agenda and
registration are attached. Registration is limited, so
please do so as soon as possible. The one day conference is
subsidized by ASTDN so the fee is very reasonable ($75). If
you are interested in attending the entire ASTDN conference
please contact Debbie Lee at
Debbie.Lee@doh.wa.gov for
the agenda and registration.
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Save the
Date: 6th Annual Summer Evaluation Institute at CDC,
June 12-14, 2006
at the Marriott Marquis in downtown Atlanta, GA. The
Institute welcomes staff at
all
levels--Federal, state, local, and community--who do or use
program evaluation. This year's
Institute is being co-sponsored with the American Evaluation
Association (AEA) and we anticipate a larger and more
diverse crowd of participants and offerings than ever. As
in the past, the Institute's three days of training will
include both longer skill-building sessions and small,
interactive sessions with national faculty. our
Institute web site www.evaluationinstitute.org
with information on
agenda, course selection,
and lodging information.
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CDC's 2006 National Health Promotion
Conference
Join local, state and national public health leaders,
businesses, communities, researchers,
policymakers, communicators, and other professionals to
discuss new directions in health promotion.
Together, we will lay the foundation for a national public
health agenda that is focused on the
broadest concepts of health promotion and wellness delivery.
The conference tracks include Nontraditional Partnerships;
Innovative Approaches to Public Health Practice; Translating
Science and Evaluating Results; Health Policy and
Communications; Implementing Best Practices at the Local
Level; and Emerging Issues and Hot Topics in Public Health.
Hilton Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia, September 12-14, 2006
Visit
www.cdc.gov/cochp for
updates and more information.
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80th Annual American School
Health Association Conference
The American School Health Association invites submissions
for our 80th Annual American School Health Association
Conference. October 11 - 14, 2006 Millennium Hotel, St.
Louis, Missouri, Application deadline: February 10, 2006.
Program applications - on-line submission, PDF or RTF
format - are available on the ASHA web site at
www.ashaweb.org/annual_conferences.html. The 2006 ASHA
conference theme is Healthy Bodies, Health Minds: The Mental
Health Connection.
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SAVE THE DATE: Quality Health Care for
Culturally Diverse Populations
October 17-20, 2006, Renaissance Hotel, 515 Madison Street,
Seattle, WA. For more information:
www.diversityRx.org/ccconf
, e-mail:ccconf@drexeledu
or call 215-762-7638. Please note that February 28,
2006 is deadline for submitting presentation proposal. |
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here. |
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Past Updates are available here:
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