Government


Government
Government

The Government Domain offers a forum for city, county, and tribal governments to advance policy and planning strategies that help establish active, healthy and thriving communities.

About | Past Meeting Minutes | Domain Summary | Resources

 

 

About the Government Domain:


Next meeting:

Government Domain meetings are held intermittently throughout the year. For information on attending these meetings, please contact the San Diego County Childhood Obesity Initiative at 858.609.7964 or email

Visit the San Diego County Childhood Obesity Initiative Calendar for a complete schedule of upcoming meetings.

Domain Champions:

Christine Lafontant, County of San Diego Department of Parks & Recreation
Lindsey McDermid, County of San Diego Health & Human Resources Association

COI Staff Contact:

Cheryl Moder, Senior Director, Collective Impact, 858.609.7961, email
JuliAnna Arnett, Senior Manager, 858.609.7962, email
Melanie Briones, Senior Project Manager, 858.609.7976, email
Melanie Cohn, Manager, 858.609.7963, email
Marie Lawrence, Coordinator, 858.609.7964, email

Meeting Minutes:


Domain Summary:


The Government Domain is comprised of city, county and tribal governments dedicated to creating environments that help make active, healthy, and thriving lifestyle choices the daily norm. This domain workgroup supports local governments in placing health equity at the forefront of all policies and planning efforts. The workgroup operates with the purpose of engaging all government entities in the implementation of policy and environmental strategies that contribute to the prevention and reduction of childhood obesity with a focus on health equity. For a complete overview of this domain's objectives and activities, click here.

Government Domain Strategies:


The following is a partial list of strategies that aim to engage government entities to prevent childhood obesity. A complete list of strategies can be located in Call to Action: Childhood Obesity Action Plan.

  • Include health in all policies and planning documents including:
    • City and county general plans
    • Regional transportation plans
    • Regional comprehensive plan
    • Community plans
    • Zoning ordinances
    • Subdivision regulations
    • Regional food systems policies
    • Agency strategic plans
  • Modify land use and transportation plans so that safe, accessible active transportation (i.e., walking and biking) is incorporated into all communities.
  • Increase quantity, quality and accessibility of parks, natural open spaces and facilities in order to encourage physical activity among children and families.
  • Establish procurement practices and policies that prioritize healthful foods and local agriculture.

For a complete list of government domain strategies, please see the Call to Action: Childhood Obesity Action Plan.

Domain partners are working with local governments to achieve these strategies through the following activities:

  • Provide stewardship to address and prevent childhood obesity across government departments, jurisdictions and partners in a collaborative manner.
  • Provide resources, support, and technical assistance to stakeholders.
  • Provide a forum in which stakeholders can share and leverage resources and best practices.

Workplans:


The following documents are the project outlines for this domain's current activities:

 

 

Accomplishments:


These common ambitions and commitment to local policies and planning efforts have provided domain partners with the right tools for success. Recent accomplishments include:

  • Facilitating workshops and events to bring together partners to collaborate on building healthier communities, such as "Food, the Economy, and Jobs," which offered information about how to support sustainable, local agriculture.
  • Supporting local communities to integrate health in municipal general plans; in Encinitas, domain members provide health information and serve on the Wellness Advisory Council.
  • Collaborating with San Diego County Parks and Recreation Department to develop a plan and financing to build the county's first permanent structure skate park at Lindo Lake Park in Lakeside.

Obesity Prevention Activities for Children Age 0-5:


The following activities impact San Diego County children age 0-5:

  • Supporting implementation of the County Health & Human Service Agency's lactation accommodation policy.
  • Implementation of surveillance system for childhood BMI to benchmark progress in obesity reduction/prevention in collaboration with the San Diego Regional Immunization Registry and the Healthcare domain.

Resources:

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Assessing the San Diego County Food System: Indicators for a More Food Secure Future

This assessment is the product of collaboration among a unique coalition of governmental, public health, social service, environmental and agricultural experts from throughout San Diego County and is intended to serve as a catalyst for community based policy change. In particular, the goal of this document is to examine the overall viability of the food system in San Diego County and in so doing, to identify key steps necessary to strengthen the foundation for a thriving local food system.

At the Intersection of Public Health & Transportation: Promoting Healthy Transportation Policy

This report provides evidence-based information about how transportation policy and practice affect public health.

Be a Healthy City with a Healthy Workforce

Preventable chronic diseases account for more than 75% of all healthcare expenditures.  Health care and lost productivity from overweight, obesity, and physical inactivity cost California more than $41 billion in 2006.  This fact sheet offers ideas for policies that cities can adopt to create healthier food and physical activity environments for their employees.

Changes in the Women, Infants & Children (WIC) Food Packages

This toolkit was created for advocates looking to partner with small food retailers and local WIC programs to increase the availability of healthy food in underserved neighborhoods.

County of San Diego Health & Human Services Agency Lactation Policy

The Health & Human Services Agency lactation policy promotes a workplace environment for employees who wish to pump or express her breast milk in a clean, secure and private designated space at a worksite.

Getting to Grocery: Tools for Attracting Healthy Food Retail to Underserved Neighborhoods

Most cities would like to attract and develop healthy food retail, but they face many challenges.  This guide offers an understanding of building and leveraging economic development strategies and partnerships that can help communities advance their healthy food retail goals.

Healthy Food for All: Building Equitable and Sustainable Food Systems in Detroit and Oakland

Studies find that improved access to supermarkets and healthier foods corresponds with better eating habits and lower rates of obesity and illness.  This report provides case studies of two cities that are taking innovative steps to repair their food delivery networks.

How to Create and Implement Healthy General Plans: A Toolkit for Building Healthy, Vibrant Communities Through Land Use Policy Change

A community's general plan, or land use policy, can be a tool to help guide development of improved community health.  This toolkit provides advice and strategies on how to include health-supporting policies in general plans and how to create partnerships to facilitate policy implementation.

Parks for Everyone: Green Access for San Diego County

The San Diego Foundation has released its Parks for Everyone report that highlights the disparities that exist in the San Diego region with respect to access to green space. The report, spearheaded by The City Project and The San Diego Foundation, uses geographic, demographic, and economic data to map and assess the overall accessibility of the region's green space. In addition, the report examines the equity of green space access by analyzing whether certain groups of people, based on income level, race or ethnicity, have more or less access to these resources.

Promoting Healthy Communities and Reducing Childhood Obesity: Legislative Options

This report summarizes state legislation proposed and passed in two broad policy categories-the first category addresses policy approaches aimed at nutrition and physical education in schools, while the latter examines land use, transportation and agricultural options.

Recipes for Change: Healthy Food in Every Community

The paper outlines organizational practices and public policies to expand access to healthy foods in support of healthy eating and better overall health, particularly in low-income neighborhoods.

The Transportation Prescription: Bold New Ideas for Healthy, Equitable Transportation Reform in America

This report demonstrates that transportation policy and land use policies affect the health, environmental and economic needs of the country.  It provides recommendations for forward-thinking transportation policies, which must promote healthy, green, safe, accessible, and affordable ways of getting where we need to go.

White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity Report to the President: Solving the Problem of Childhood Obesity Within a Generation

This report outlines 70 policy and environmental actions that can be taken by private and public agencies, including the federal government, and families to significantly reduce childhood obesity. The plan follows the pillars of the First Lady's Let's Move! campaign: (1) empowering parents and caregivers; (2) providing healthy foods in schools; (3) improving access to healthy, affordable foods; and (4) increasing physical activity.

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Quick Facts

  • Overweight children are far more likely to be obese as adults (California Center of Public Health Advocacy, 2009)
  • More children are being diagnosed with diseases linked to overweight and obesity previously seen only in adults, such as Type 2 diabetes and heart disease (The Obesity Society, 2009).
  • Walking and biking have decreased more than 40% during the past 3 decades, partly because of unsafe routes and poor walking conditions (Active Living Research, 2009).

News & Upcoming Events

The San Diego County Childhood Obesity Initiative is partnering with KyXy 96.5 in its 2013 Get Fit & Thrive Campaign to promote 5210 Every Day!.

See our latest newsletter and the COI calendar for upcoming events.


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Physical Activity and Nutrition Database


A free "one stop shop" for programs and services in nutrition, healthy weight, physical activity, and diabetes.

Core funding provided in part by:

First 5 San Diego The California Endowment Kaiser-Permanente San Diego County

A project facilitated by:

California Health Improvement Partners

San Diego County Childhood Obesity Initiative
5095 Murphy Canyon Road, Suite #105, San Diego, CA 92123
(p)858.609.7964 - (f)858.609.7998
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