10 Tips to Healthy Eating and Physical Activity!

1. Start your day with breakfast.
   Breakfast fills your “empty tank” to get you going after a long night without food. And it can help you do better in school. Easy to prepare breakfasts include cold cereal with fruit and low-fat milk, whole-wheat toast with peanut butter, yogurt with fruit, whole-grain waffles or even last night’s pizza!
2. Get Moving!
   It’s easy to fit physical activities into your daily routine. Walk, bike or jog to see friends. Take a 10-minute activity break every hour while you read, do homework or watch TV. Climb stairs instead of taking an escalator or elevator. Try to do these things for a total of 30 minutes every day.
3. Snack smart.
   Snacks are a great way to refuel. Choose snacks from different food groups – a glass of low-fat milk and a few graham crackers, an apple or celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins, or some dry cereal. If you eat smart at other meals, cookies, chips and candy are OK for occasional snacking.
4. Work up a sweat.
   Vigorous work-outs – when you’re breathing hard and sweating – help your heart pump better, give you more energy and help you look and feel best. Start with a warm-up that stretches your muscles. Include 20 minutes of aerobic activity, such as running, jogging, or dancing. Follow-up with activities that help make you stronger such as push-ups or lifting weights. Then cool-down with more stretching and deep breathing.
5. Balance your food choices – don’t eat too much of any one thing.
   You don’t have to give up foods like hamburgers, french fries and ice cream to eat healthy. You just have to be smart about how often and how much of them you eat. Your body needs nutrients like protein, carbohydrates, fat and many different vitamins and minerals such as vitamins C and A, iron and calcium from a variety of foods. Balancing food choices from the Food Guide Pyramid and checking out the Nutrition Facts Panel on food labels will help you get all these nutrients.
6. Get fit with friends or family.
   Being active is much more fun with friends or family. Encourage others to join you and plan one special physical activity event, like a bike ride or hiking, with a group each week.
7. Eat more grains, fruits and vegetables.
   These foods give you carbohydrates for energy, plus vitamins, minerals and fiber. Besides, they taste good! Try breads such as whole-wheat, bagels and pita. Spaghetti and oatmeal are also in the grain group. Bananas, strawberries and melons are some great tasting fruits. Try vegetables raw, on a sandwich or salad.
   
8. Join in physical activities at school.
   Whether you take a physical education class or do other physical activities at school, such as intramural sports, structures activities are a sure way to feel good, look good and stay physically fit.
9. Foods aren’t good or bad.
   A healthy eating style is like a puzzle with many parts. Each part — or food — is different. Some foods may have more fat, sugar or salt while others may have more vitamins or fiber. There is a place for all these foods. What makes a diet good or bad is how foods fit together. Balancing your choices is important. Fit in a higher-fat food, like pepperoni pizza, at dinner by choosing lower-fat foods at other meals. And don’t forget about moderation. If two pieces of pizza fill you up, you don’t need a third.
10. Make healthy eating and physical activities fun!
    Take advantage of physical activities you and your friends enjoy doing together and eat the foods you like. Be adventurous – try new sports, games and other activities as well as new foods. You’ll grow stronger, play longer, and look and feel better! Set realistic goals – don’t try changing too much at once.

To see more information on the tips please visit http://www.fitness.gov/10tips.htm

1) ReThink Your Drink,

2) Eat Fresh, Snack Smart,

3) Gather Round the Table,

4) Get Up and Moving and

5) Move Together

The GOAL is to spark a community-wide effort to get healthy and active by encouraging individuals, families, and organizations to commit to a month of increased physical activity and/or healthy eating.

COMMIT by pledging to improve your and your family’s health TODAY by filling out this survey to be entered into a raffle for great prizes!

The Let’s Move SLO initiative was generously supported by the following partners: SLO County Community Foundation, Juiciful Creative, CenCal Health, Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center, French Hospital Medical Center, Athlon Health & Fitness, DASH Fitness, Equilibrium Fitness, and John Rogers.

From Medscape Medical News

Ron Zimmerman

Authors and Disclosures

March 10, 2011 — A nonprofit physicians organization came out hard against updated dietary guidelines recently issued by the US Department of Agriculture (UDSA), suing the government to force the USDA to change its recommendations.

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) alleges that the USDA knowingly hides harmful foods behind obscure language in the report.

The guidelines are published jointly every 5 years by the USDA and the US Department of Health and Human Services and are supposed to represent the most current and sound scientific information available. The dietary guidelines are the blueprint for all federal nutrition programs, including school meals.

However, PCRM says in its lawsuit, rather than giving Americans nutritional advice that would help them fight obesity, the government instead bowed to conflicts of interest with agribusiness and blurred the message about foods Americans should eat less of.

PCRM President Neal Barnard, MD, was clear in his criticism of the USDA. “The dietary guidelines are the best they’ve ever been, but we’re pushing to make them better,” he said in an interview with Medscape Medical News.

“It’s critically important yet fundamentally dishonest when they have an explicit message of what foods to eat more of, but when it comes to foods to eat less of, they hide behind biochemical codes,” he said. “It’s intentional. And it doesn’t help the school nutritionist designing school lunch menus or a food planner in a rural town.”

The physicians’ committee, which says it represents more than 10,000 physicians and 100,000 other healthcare professionals, is a nonprofit public health organization advocating preventive medicine through proper nutrition. It took particular aim at the familiar food pyramid diagram.

The USDA’s MyPyramid diagram is ineffective and confusing to the general public, says the PCRM lawsuit. The physicians say it conveys abstract messages that must be translated into concrete food choices with a computer program that is not available to Americans who do not have access to a computer.

Dr. Barnard explained his organization’s opposition: “Last March we petitioned them to scrap the food pyramid. In 2005 they took away food groupings and just made it colored stripes, which is completely useless to the population the food pyramid is designed to teach: disadvantaged Americans who have no way of decoding the pyramid. It became totally useless.”

The PCRM argues that “there is no scientific basis for including meat or dairy groups in dietary guidance material” because people who avoid those foods have lower rates of diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease.

Foods to Avoid Not Named

The dietary guidelines specify foods to eat more often such as fruits and vegetables, but when it comes to foods to eat less often, such as meat and cheese, the guidelines use “biochemical terms unfamiliar to the general public,” says the lawsuit. The PCRM finds it nonsensical that the guidelines call for limiting cholesterol, saturated fats, and solid fats “without clearly explaining that meat, dairy products and eggs are the only sources of cholesterol in the diet.”

Within the lawsuit petition, the PCRM reports that at the press conference for the release of the guidelines, Marian Burros, a journalist with Politico, asked defendant Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, “Why do you call it solid fat, instead of porterhouse steak? Or why do you call it solid fat, and then…the guidelines on dairy include cheese?”

Vilsack’s answer was vague, alleges the lawsuit: “Vilsack admitted that the dietary guidelines ‘essentially’ have a ‘way’ of listing foods that one should avoid, by ‘suggesting other foods.’ ”

PCRM Nutrition Education Director Susan Levin, MS, RD, addressed what the organization feels is Vilsack’s doublespeak: “Americans need straightforward health advice, not bureaucratic mumbo jumbo designed to protect agribusiness.”

Arthur Caplan, PhD, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, agrees with the intent of the lawsuit, saying he does not know whether the USDA’s confusing language is purposeful, “but informed consent for consumers demands easy to understand, simple, straightforward language — that is not what it should be in this set of guidelines. The lawsuit seems to me,” he continued, “to be correct in demanding clearer language and less technical and food insider talk.”

The USDA did not respond to the PCRM’s written comments to the proposed dietary guidelines, so when the final recommendations were published at the end of January, Dr. Barnard felt his group had no choice but to file their lawsuit.

“We filed the lawsuit as our way of saying, ‘You will listen to us; the court will make you listen,’ ” said Dr. Barnard. “Our lawsuit guarantees that we will have their attention. We’re finally saying, enough is enough.”

The PCRM’s lawsuit also notches up its war against the USDA by alleging conflicts of interest. The lawsuit argues that the dietary guidelines are meant to be read by the general public, not scientists, yet it uses “inconsistent language, ambiguous phrases and biochemical terminology to avoid providing clear dietary information due to Defendants’ conflicts of interest.”

Those conflicts of interest include the Secretary of Agriculture’s statutory duty to foster “new or expanded markets” and to move “larger quantities of agricultural products through the private marketing system to consumers.” In addition, the lawsuit points to the fact that advisory committee members for the dietary guidelines have ties to meat and dairy food product industries, such as Dannon, Kraft Foods, and MacDonald’s Corp, which creates direct conflicts of interest.

“The Secretary of Agriculture has an impossible job when it comes to health,” said Dr. Barnard, “because his job is simply to make agribusiness richer.”

Dr. Caplan believes the USDA has a broader mandate, but that they are focused on a narrow part of their statutory authority. “The mandate to promote agriculture is the one that has dominated American government food policy forever, and that mandate often trumps health worries,” he told Medscape Medical News.

The PCRM wants a trial court to send its lawsuit to a full jury trial to declare that the defendants have violated the Administrative Procedure section of the US Code by issuing dietary guidelines not based on the preponderance of the medical knowledge, and to order defendants to withdraw portions of the dietary guidelines. The group also wants the USDA to rewrite and reissue the official dietary guidelines based on proper medical knowledge. That medical knowledge, according the PCRM, would specifically mention meat and dairy products as a major source of saturated fat in Americans’ diets.

It particularly galls the PCRM that although dairy products account for more than 30% of the saturated fat in the American diet, the guidelines disguise this fact by splitting dairy products into many categories, including cheese (8.5%), butter (2.9%), whole milk (3.4%), reduced-fat milk (3.9%), dairy desserts (5.6%), and pizza (5.9%), so that dairy products’ contribution to the diet is harder to see.

“Look, in 5 years, when the next dietary guidelines are written,” said Dr. Barnard, “diabetes will be the worst it’s ever been, obesity will be worse, if that’s even possible, and the government treats all this as if it doesn’t matter. In 2010, $128 billion was spent on diabetes treatment alone. Every state is having budget troubles. Is that because they spent too much on school buses? No, it’s healthcare. As a doctor, I can’t fathom why it isn’t taken seriously.”

When contacted by Medscape Medical News, a spokesman for the USDA, John Webster, replied: “Since this is now in litigation, we have no comment.”

Dr. Caplan thinks the USDA is ignoring its responsibility to the public by refusing to comment. “I think the criticisms merit a serious response,” he said.

Decorate your own reusable lunch bag! Take home a healthy lunch!

When and Where:

April 12, 2011 (Tuesday)
5:00pm–6:30pm
Kennedy Club Fitness SLO MultiPlex Clubhouse
188 Tank Farm Road
San Luis Obispo

Space is limited, call for reservations.

(800) 483-6387

www.SierraVistaRegional.com

One of the best things about the holidays is coming together with family and friends to celebrate over a meal. Food does more than just nourish our bodies, it is an important part of our social lives as well. We turn eating into a social experience when we sit down together to interact and share stories from our day, all the while building strong family relationships. We often come together around the table during the holidays, but why not make this an everyday tradition? Taking the time to sit-down for a meal is often put on the backburner when life gets busy and overscheduled. The importance however of this seemingly simple act should not be overlooked. Research has shown that children and adolescents who frequently partake in family meals have higher dietary intakes of:

• Fruit
• Vegetables
• Key nutrients such as fiber, calcium, and iron

As well as lower intakes of soft drinks and saturated fat.

Family meals also offer the opportunity to expose children to healthful food choices and for parents to model healthy eating behaviors. There are proven social benefits to this eating style as well. Studies show that young people who frequently partake in family meals have a lower risk of developing disordered eating behaviors, drug and alcohol abuse, and even depression later in life.

When the simple act of eating together can have such a positive influence on your family, why not make it part of your New Year’s resolution this year? Or better yet, take it a step further and involve kids in the cooking/preparing of the meal. Remember that a “meal” does not have to be a formal or elaborate event. Kidseatright.org (an extension of the American Dietetic Association) offers these tips to make meals as simple and enjoyable as possible:

• Set a regular family mealtime. Pick a time together.
• Enjoy more table time, less cooking time. Make quick, simple meals (even a sandwich, fruit and milk) to give more table time together.
• Turn off the TV. Turn on the phone answering machine. Focus mealtime on family talk.
• Keep table talk positive. Everyone gets to talk and to listen. Sitting around a table, not side-by-side at a counter, helps.
• Keep table time realistic – not so long that the pleasure goes away.

So whether it’s breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even a sit-down snack, take the time this year to enjoy good food and company around your family’s table and make eating together a priority!

For more information and tips on eating as a family, visit www. Kidseatright.org or check out a new book by Laurie David entitled, “The Family Dinner”.

References:

Larson, N., Nelson, M., Neumark-Sztainer, D., Story, M., and Hannan, P. “Making Time for Meals: Meal Structure and Associations with Dietary Intake in Young Adults”. Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 2009; 109:72-79.

Larson, N., Neumark-Sztainer, D., Hannan, P., and Story, M. “Family Meals during Adolescence Are Associated with Higher Diet Quality and Healthful Meal Patterns during Young Adulthood”. Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 2007; 107:1502-1510.

Graphic design students in Charmaine Martinez’s Typography III course designed posters that address the current state of our food system and its impact on the health of the individual. Each poster contains a visual depiction of one of Michael Pollen’s 7 Rules for Eating, the full text of farmer/activist Will Allen’s A Good Food Manifesto for America, and a personal message to First Additional images can be seen on AIGA’s Living Principles site: http://www.livingprinciples.org/design-advocacy-the-good-food-campaign/

Charmaine Martinez is an assistant professor in Cal Poly’s Department of Art and Design, partner in Juiciful Creative Consulting and HEAL-SLO’s chair of Community Outreach.

About Living Principles

Originally conceived by AIGA—the professional association for design—the Living Principles for Design celebrate the efforts of all partners, amplifying their voices and working collectively to move the sustainability conversation forward across disciplines and around the world.

The Living Principles for Design aim to guide purposeful action, celebrating and popularizing the efforts of those who use design thinking to create positive cultural change.

Drawing from decades of collective wisdom, theory and results, the Living Principles framework weaves environmental, social, economic, and cultural sustainability into an actionable, integrated approach that can be consistently communicated to designers, business leaders, educators and the public.

HEAL-SLO is pleased to announce the 2010 Healthy Eating Active Living Summit—Healing our Community: Turning the Tide of Obesity. The summit will address the obesity epidemic and provide strategies for building a healthy community. Join us on October 22, 2010 to learn how we can work together to create and support healthy lifestyle choices in our community and beyond. The summit is free of charge and space is limited, so please register early. Please click on this link to register online.

Location:

Embassy Suites Hotel
333 Madonna Road
San Luis Obispo, CA 93405
phone: 805.549.0800 / toll-free: 800.864.6000
rooms: Slo Main, North & South

Agenda:

8:00 – 8:30 Registration and Light Breakfast

8:30 – 8:45  Opening Remarks – Penny Borenstein, MD, MPH, Health Officer, San Luis Obispo County

8:45 – 9:30  Prevention of Childhood Obesity: National Strategies and the CATCH Program

Steven H Kelder, MPH, PhD – Professor, Division of Epidemiology, University of Texas School of Public Health, Austin
Dr. Kelder will discuss trends in childhood obesity, causes of child obesity, give a review of the prevention evidence, and will give a description of the CATCH child health program.

9:30 – 10:15  California Campaign of Healthy Beverages: An Effective Obesity Prevention Strategy

Stefan Harvey – Assistant Director, California Center for Public Health Advocacy
Ms. Harvey will give an overview of soda consumption in California and its contribution to the obesity epidemic, and will describe the four components of the California Beverage Campaign. She will also lead a discussion of how to pursue city and county policies in San Luis Obispo County.

10:15 – 10:30  Break – Jump Rope Challenge, led by Matt Zolynsky

10:30 – 11:15   Santa Clara County – What We Accomplished

Lori Martin, M.S., R.D. – Nutrition & Wellness Manager, Santa Clara County Public Health Department
On May 11, 2010, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance which sets nutritional standards for restaurant food or beverages that come with toys or other incentive items. Lori Martin will discuss how this happened—the process, the challenges and the outcome.

11:15 – noon  Overview – Where was San Luis Obispo in 2007 and where are we now? Childhood Obesity Prevention Task Force 2007 Report & Recommendations

Joel Diringer, JD, MPH – Diringer & Associates
Janice Fong Wolf – Director of Grants & Programs, San Luis Obispo County Community Foundation

Local Panel:

1.  School Wellness Program at Lillian Larsen Elementary
Laverne Buckman – San Miguel Resource Connection
The San Miguel Resource Connection was one of the sub-grantees under The California Endowment grant. They have been working on school wellness at Lillian Larsen Elementary and will share highlights of their program including the Healthy Hornets, and recess before lunch.

2.  School Wellness Program at Oceano Elementary
Moyses Murguia – Oceano Boys and Girls Club
The Boys & Girls Club were also a sub-grantee and they will share success from working at Oceano Elementary, including their school garden, walk and bike to school days, and chili con limon powder on the salad bar.

3.  Be a Health Hero! Preschool and K–2 Countywide Poster Campaign
Christine Enyart-Elfers – San Luis Obispo County Office of Education
Public Health and the County Office of Education have developed four messages that will go out to all children and parents countywide from preschool to second grade. Christine Enyart-Elfers will share the posters and discuss the project.

4.  Jump roping, ReThink Your Drink, and more…
Jenifer Rhynes – YMCA
The YMCA has been involved in numerous obesity prevention projects in the past several years and Jenifer will share the successes the Y has found.

noon – 1:00  Lunch*

Implementation of the Affordable Care Act
Herb Schultz – Director of Region 9, US Department of Health & Human Services

1:00 – 1:30  Award Presentations – Frank Mecham, Chair, San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors

HEAL-SLO Leadership Award / HEAL-SLO Innovation Award / HEAL-SLO Mentoring Award

1:30 – 3:00  Break Out Sessions

1.  Together We Can Build a Better Food System for San Luis Obispo County
Joseph McIntyre – President, Ag Innovations Network
Kim Pasciuto – Executive Director, Central Coast Agricultural Network
This dynamic and interactive session answers the question how can we make positive change for food eaters and producers in our area. You’ll get an overview of what the food system is, help us identify the key issues facing San Luis Obispo County, see case studies of what is working in other areas, and learn how collaboration by the stakeholders in the food system can lead to a better result for all.

2.  The Built Environment and its Role in Obesity Prevention
Jeffery Rosenhall, MA – California Active Communities
James Lopes, AICP – Department of Planning & Building, County of San Luis Obispo
Strategic (smart) growth policies aim to create compact, walkable and complete communities with lots of transportation choices besides driving. This session will focus on case studies that demonstrate how communities which utilize good principles of community design can help create health benefits, including reducing rates of obesity, increasing physical activity, and improving the environment.

3.  Worksite Wellness: How to Make your Work Environment Healthier
Dayna Ravalin, RD, CDE – Public Health, County of San Luis Obispo
Nick Duggan – Business Development Manager, American Heart Association
Nickole Sutter – Wellness Coordinator, City of San Luis Obispo
Cecilia Fontes – Benefits Coordinator, County of San Luis Obispo
Jessica Borja – Health & Wellness Coordinator, Lucia Mar School District
Statistics establish that 80% of illnesses and disease in the United States are preventable. This accounts for eight of the nine leading causes of death. More and more companies are turning to worksite wellness programs to help reduce absenteeism, reduce employee turnover, improve employee productivity and morale, and reduce healthcare claims. Learn what local employers are doing, and learn about low-cost resources that you can utilize on the job.

4.  Behavior Change: Research and Clinical Implications for Obesity Prevention
Suzanne Phelan, PhD – Associate Professor of Kinesiology, Cal Poly
Robert Wolff, MSW – Clinical Social Worker, Atascadero State Hospital
We all know what we should do—so why can’t we do it?  Learn about weight control strategies and what it takes to be successful at weight loss, including the phases of helping and applications for individuals, and families.  The session will discuss research in the field—as well as clinical applications including cognitive-behavior strategies and the role of hope and empowerment.

3:00–3:15  Break

3:15–4:00  Wrap Up – Convene back in Main Conference Room and report back from break out sessions

*Light breakfast and lunch prepared by Embassy Suites Chef Timothy Hulbert, who brings a wealth of knowledge of culinary delights from many different cultures. He promises the freshest produce from local Central Coast farmers, as well as, sustainable meats and seafood. His focus in 2010 is to provide healthy, flavorful dishes, while moving in the “green direction”.

Continuing Education Units

If you are a medical professional, you may request Continuing Education Units for attending the 2010 Healthy Eating Active Living Summit.

• Provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider Number 0857, for 6 contact hours
• Provider approved by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences BBSE #PCE 366 for  6 continuing education credit for MFTs and/or LCSWs.
• CPEs have been requested from the Commission of Dietetic Registration, the American Dietetic Association

CMEs for Physicians

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Institute for Medical Quality and the California Medical Association’s CME Accreditation Standards (IMQ/CMA) through the Joint Sponsorship of CME Consultants and Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center. CME Consultants is accredited by IMQ/CMA to provide continuing medical education for physicians. CME Consultants takes responsibility for the content, quality and scientific integrity of this CME activity.

CME Consultants designates this educational activity for a maximum of 6.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. This credit may also be applied to the CMA Certification in Continuing Medical Education.

Event Sponsors:

The 2010 Healthy Eating Active Living Summit, Healing our Community: Turning the Tide of Obesity, is brought to you free of charge thanks to the generosity of our sponsoring organizations:

• HEAL-SLO: Healthy Eating Active Living San Luis Obispo
• The California Endowment
• San Luis Obispo County Community Foundation
• Juiciful: Creative Consulting
• Cal Poly STRIDE
• The San Luis Obispo “Y”

And event partners:

• Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center
• SLO County Bicycle Coaltion
• United Way of San Luis Obispo County
• RTA
• San Luis Obispo Transit

Printable Agenda and Registration Materials:

If you prefer, you can click on the link below to download all registration materials and fax your application to: (805) 781.1235.

For more information or if you have any questions, contact Kathleen Karle at: (805) 781-4929.

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