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Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Colorado Physical Activity and Nutrition Program
 
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Task Force Fact Sheets

Active Community Environments Task Force Fact Sheet

The Colorado Physical Activity and Nutrition Program’s Active Community Environments (ACE) Task Force represents collaborations and partnerships with government, public health, transportation, planning, and design. Task force members support planning for and modifying existing environments in ways that makes it easy for people to integrate physical activity into their daily routines.

Colorado Physical Activity and Nutrition State Plan 2010, ACE Strategies

  • Assess, modify, and improve community planning and design to support  and advocate for increased physical activity.

  • Develop land-use planning and development policies that integrate “smart growth” principles.

  • Develop school sites and routes that promote active community living.

  • Develop an integrated parks and/or open space system with recreation facilities near every neighborhood and employment center.

  • Develop a balanced transportation system that provides people with options for their mode of travel including transit, walking, bicycling, and motor vehicles.

  • Reduce the number and severity of pedestrian and bicycle accidents involving motor vehicles.

ACE Taskforce Activities

  • Sponsor/provide regional Active Community Environments workshops for key stakeholders.

  • Co-host an annual ACE conference of active living leaders in Colorado to assess progress and identify barriers and needs.

  • Promote and implement Walk to School Colorado programs and promote Safe Routes to School in Colorado.

  • Provide materials to organizations in Colorado to facilitate the inclusion of public health elements in transportation/land use master plans and land use/transportation elements in community health plans.

  • Provide technical assistance to communities regarding ACE policies, strategies, and projects. 

  • Provide grants for changes to the built environment and/or policy changes promoting ACE.

Breastfeeding Promotion Fact Sheet

The Colorado Physical Activity and Nutrition Program’s Breastfeeding Promotion Work Group is part of the Colorado Breastfeeding Task Force. The Work Group promotes strategies to support a breastfeeding-friendly environment in hospitals, worksites and communities.

Colorado Physical Activity and Nutrition State Plan 2010, Breastfeeding Promotion Strategies:

  • Establish areas of breastfeeding support in communities across Colorado during the prenatal, postpartum, and labor and delivery stages

  • Provide education on the benefits, myths, and intricacies of breastfeeding to health professionals, expectant mothers, and their families.

  • Encourage hospitals to adopt breastfeeding-friendly environments.

  • Increase protection, promotion and support for breastfeeding mothers in the workforce.

  • Conduct research that assesses the current status of support of the breastfeeding mother in Colorado.

Breastfeeding Promotion Activities 06-07:

  • Conduct Baby-Friendly Hospital training for at least five Colorado hospitals

  • Provide funding and technical assistance to at least two hospitals to implement comprehensive Baby-Friendly policies and practices.

  • Provide technical assistance to at least three hospitals in implementing incremental change in maternity care practices supporting breastfeeding.

  • Identification of core breastfeeding education objectives in didactic curricula for medical, nursing and dietetic students.

  • Present Breastfeeding Friendly Awards to at least 20 worksites.

  • Provide five breastfeeding grants that address community-wide breastfeeding promotion strategies.

Early Childhood Task Force Fact Sheet

The Colorado Physical Activity and Nutrition Program’s Early Childhood Task Force represents collaborations and partnerships with government, public health, and private organizations throughout the state. Task force members support efforts to prevent and decrease the incidence of obesity in early childhood through nutrition and physical activity interventions.

Colorado Physical Activity and Nutrition State Plan 2010, Early Childhood Strategies:

  • Raise awareness of the benefits of health eating and developmentally appropriate activity in children birth to age five and their families.

  • Provide educational opportunities that will improve parents’ and other caregivers’ abilities to meet recommendations for healthy eating and developmentally appropriate physical activity.

  • Provide educational opportunities and resources in nutrition and physical activity for healthcare professionals.

  • Promote an environment that encourages healthy eating and active lifestyles as the norm rather than the exception.

Colorado Child Health Survey, 2004

  • 14.8 percent of Colorado children ages 2-14 were considered to be overweight.

  • 13.8 percent were at risk for being overweight.

  • 64.1 percent of children ages 1-14 did not eat the recommended daily servings of fruit.

  • 94.6 percent of children ages 1-14 did not eat the recommenced daily servings of vegetables.

  • 26.9 percent of children ages 5-14 participated in less than 5 hours of physical activity per week.

2005-2006 Early Childhood Activities

  • Sponsor the existing state CAEYC Conference to highlight physical activity and nutrition.

  •  Provide three regional trainings to introduce, reinforce, and encourage implementation of strategies and actions steps from the Early Childhood Resource Kits.

  • Disseminate the newly developed Child Care Champions Best Practices guidebook to child care centers and day care homes, and assess progress.

  • Develop a child care education module to train regional coordinators who are implementing the Child Care Champions Best Practices guidebook in their area facilities.

  • Recognize Child Care Champions for promoting physical activity and healthy eating programs.

2006-2007 Grant Recipients: The following organizations have received grants in amounts up to $2,000 each to implement nutrition and physical activity education, events and programs within centers, homes and after school programs. Interventions range from curricula development and physical education equipment to garden projects and cooking classes. Each grant recipient is required to evaluate the outcomes to demonstrate the effectiveness of their program.

  1. Cripple Creek-Victor RE-1 Schools, Cripple Creek

  2. Clayton Family Futures, Denver

  3. Early Childhood Options, Dillon

  4. Augustana Early Learning Center, Denver

  5. KidCare Nutrition Sponsor, Greeley

  6. South Suburban Parks and Recreation, Littleton

  7. Circle of Friends Montessori School, Estes Park

  8. Longmont Children's Council, Longmont

  9. Montrose County School District RE 1J, Montrose

  10. Wildwood Child and Adult Care Food Program, Littleton

  11. Brush UMC Head Start, Brush

  12. The Children's Center @ Red Rocks Community College, Lakewood

  13. Morgan County School District Re-3 Teen Parenting and Childcare Program (Step-by-Step)

Early Childhood Task Force Member Organizations: Colorado State University; Colorado Nutrition Network; Qualistar; Colorado Association for Education of Young Children; Tri-County Health Dept; University of Colorado Health Sciences Center; Colorado Dept. of Public Health and Environment; Headstart; Women, Infants and Children.

Healthcare Systems Fact Sheet

The Colorado Physical Activity and Nutrition (COPAN) Program is developing an action plan addressing healthcare systems. Strategies will be designed to help professionals practice effective assessment and management of obesity in healthcare settings.

Healthcare Systems Developing Activities:

  • Develop and distribute Obesity Guidelines in conjunction with the Colorado Clinical Guidelines Collaborative. 

  • Promote a no-cost obesity telephone counseling line in 16 counties on Colorado’s eastern plains.

  • Sponsor a statewide Webcast for healthcare professionals on the assessment and management of obesity.

  • Develop and distribute an obesity toolkit for healthcare providers.

  • Sponsor workshops for healthcare providers conducted by the Centers For Obesity Research and Education (CORE) located at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.

  • Implement and evaluate a weight control pilot in two family planning clinics in the Denver Metro Area.

  • Partner with programs in the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to help prevent obesity and the co-morbidities of obesity.

Older Adult Task Force and the Consortium For Older Adult Wellness Fact Sheet

The Consortium For Older Adult Wellness (COAW) is a statewide network of professionals working with older adults in the areas of improved nutrition, increased physical activity, and fall prevention. COAW has established the Academy for Older Adult Wellness as the venue to deliver mastery level evidence-based chronic disease programming for the community professional.

The Academy offers safe, evidence-based and model best practice programming in the areas of physical activity, nutrition, and fall prevention. These classes are for implementation in recreation centers, senior centers, nursing homes, assisted living centers, independent living centers, outpatient clinics, congregate meal sites, churches or anywhere older adults gather!

Colorado Physical Activity and Nutrition State Plan 2010, Older Adult Wellness Strategies:

  • Expand the network of professionals working with older adults.

  • Develop new partnerships and resources at the community level.

  • Expand the Older Adult Academy into an institution to provide annual trainings on the Western Slope (certificate program and college credit) at Colorado Mountain College and continue offering Outreach Training Academies throughout the state.

  • Implement the CO Action Plan for Older Adult Wellness-A Public Health Strategy

  • Train providers of older adult physical activity and nutrition programs in use of the Senior Fitness Assessment tool for tracking outcomes. 

  • Provide yearly seed grants, at the community level, to train and implement evidence-based or model best practice nutrition, physical activity, and fall prevention interventions.

  • Provide technical assistance to communities who develop strategic plans for their older adult physical activity programmings.

The Colorado Older Adult Picture- Colorado

  • In 2000 there were 558,918 Older Adults (age 60 and over) This number is growing as the Baby Boomers turn 60 in 2006

  • Nearly 100,00 Older Adults live in rural areas

  • Racial Distribution in 2000 – 14% Minority

  • 49,907 Hispanic or Latino

  • 14,584 Black or African American

  • 8,755 Asian American

  • 2,862 American Indian and Alaskan Native

  • 63.8% live in family households/or with spouse (356, 590)

  • 120,000 live alone

  • 131,338 (25%) are employed full or part-time

  • 19% are caregivers

  • 42% volunteer 1 hr or more a week

  • Paid wages to older adults was estimated to be about $2.9 billion

  • The value of unpaid contributions was over $1.6 billion a year

  • 30,000 live below the poverty level (1999) $7990

  • Using the 200% of poverty as a broad measure of economic need, over 100,000 were poor or “near poor”

  • According to the Demography Office of the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, the older adult population will grow to 852,000 in 2012

Information sources:

  • 1) Television (87%) 

  • 2) “Word of mouth” (87%)

  • 3) Newspaper (85%)

  • 4) Radio (65% used sometimes)

  • Senior Publications (61% used sometimes)

  • Library (61%)

  • Internet (49% used some of the time)

  • COPAN Older Adult Task Force/COAW Activities

  • Develop and distribute the Colorado Action Plan for Older Adult Wellness-A Public Health Strategy

  • Implement the Colorado Action Plan for Older Adult Wellness-A Public Health Strategy.

  • Provide seed grants to communities to offset training and program implementation costs. 

  • Identify, promote, train, and implement evidence-based or model best practice programs. 

  • Build the Academy for Older Adult Wellness into a statewide training institution

2006-2007 Grant Recipients:

  1. Aurora Senior Center, Aurora

  2. Poudre Valley Health System, Fort Collins

  3. Alfred Clowser, Colorado Springs

  4. Fort Collins Senior Center, Fort Collins

  5. City of Englewood Parks and Recreation, Englewood

  6. Upper Arkansas Area Agency on Aging, Salida

  7. Town of Buena Vista Recreation Department, Buena Vista

  8. Full Circle Inter-Generational Project, Inc., Denver

School Site Task Force and Colorado Action For Healthy Kids™ Team Fact Sheet

Action for Healthy Kids™ is a national-state effort that is addressing the epidemic of overweight, undernourished and sedentary youth by focusing on changes in the school environment. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s Colorado Physical Activity and Nutrition (COPAN) Program is dedicated to reducing the incidence of overweight and obesity in Coloradoans. In an effort to reduce duplication and to maximize resources, the CO Action For Healthy Kids™ State Team and the COPAN School Site Task Force function as the same team.

Colorado Physical Activity and Nutrition State Plan 2010, School Site Strategies

  • Build awareness and encourage positive role modeling among administrators, teachers, food service staff, coaches, nurses, parents, students, other staff and community leaders about the contribution of proper nutrition toward lifelong healthy weight.

  • Develop and implement policies ensuring that all foods and beverages available on school campuses, and at school events, contribute toward healthful eating patterns that are consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

  • Provide age-appropriate and culturally sensitive instruction in physical education programs to help students develop the knowledge, attitudes, skills and behaviors needed to adopt, maintain and enjoy a physically active lifestyle.

  • Provide opportunities for physical activity that help students develop the knowledge, attitudes, skills and behaviors needed to adopt, maintain and enjoy a physically active lifestyle.

Colorado Adolescents and Children

COPAN School Site Task Force/COAFHK State Team Activities and Resources

 Benefits of Recess Before Lunch promotional flyer: www.wdairycouncil.com.

Nutrition Priorities:

  • Nutrition education/information

  • Promotion of school breakfast and lunch 

  • 5 A Day/fruits and vegetables promotion

  • Nutritious food options throughout school 

  • Calcium/ dairy promotion

  • “Party” guidelines and nonfood fundraisers

Physical Activity Priorities:

  • Quality, daily physical education 

  • Decreased television viewing time 

  • Walk to and Bike to School Programs

  • Extracurricular and after school activity opportunities

  • Recess before lunch

  • Staff wellness

Surveillance and Evaluation Task Force

The Colorado Physical Activity and Nutrition (COPAN) Program of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is dedicated to preventing obesity and related chronic diseases and promoting healthy lifestyles for all Coloradans. COPAN and its partners have developed and are implementing the Colorado Physical Activity and Nutrition State Plan 2010. The state plan provides specific steps that can be taken to address the obesity epidemic in each stage of the lifespan. 

Colorado Physical Activity and Nutrition State Plan 2010, Guidance for Outcome Evaluation:

  • Creation of policies and environments that support COPAN activities.

  • Support from local government and community groups for COPAN activities.

  • Implementation of program services by organizations and communities in support of COPAN efforts.

  • Degree of change in individual behaviors and health outcomes resulting from COPAN interventions.

  • Amount and type of positive media coverage of COPAN efforts.

Statewide Surveillance Methods:

  • Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System

  • Youth Risk Behavior Survey

  • Child Health Survey

  • Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System

Role of the Task Force

A system of evaluation is essential to successful planning and implementation of program activities and assessing program impact. The Surveillance & Evaluation Task Force advises program staff on conducting meaningful and feasible program evaluation activities. Task Force members help to define data needs, develop additional sources of data, and identify data collection tools to enhance surveillance, evaluation, and screening around obesity, physical activity and nutrition.

Task Force Special Project: Youth Overweight Surveillance System

For the past two years, a workgroup of the Task Force has been making progress toward the goal of creating a statewide overweight surveillance system for school age children in Colorado. During the 2004-05 school year, the workgroup conducted a feasibility study to better understand the issues around collecting height and weight information in the school setting. In the current school year, an attempt is being made to collect height and weight data for 1st and 5th graders from a random sample of Colorado schools.

Worksite Task Force

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s Colorado Physical Activity and Nutrition (COPAN) Program is dedicated to reducing the incidence of overweight and obesity and promoting healthy lifestyles for Coloradoans. The COPAN Coalition has developed and is implementing the Colorado Physical Activity and Nutrition State Plan 2010. The COPAN State Plan 2010 provides specific steps that can be taken to address the obesity epidemic in each stage of the lifespan. 

Colorado Physical Activity and Nutrition State Plan 2010, Worksite Strategies:

  • Promote social support interventions and/or health education activities in the workplace.

  • Explore opportunities for increased physical activity.

  • Explore opportunities for healthful eating.

  • Alter worksite environment and/or policy to encourage health and wellness.

Worksites:

  • Healthcare costs are rising at 4 times the rate of inflation and are now consuming 50% of corporate profits.

  • In 2004, the per-capita cost of healthcare was $6,040, which will increase to $11,046 per person by the year 2014.

  • Preventable illness makes up ~70% of the burden of illness and associated costs.

  • Most Americans spend most of their waking hours at work.

2005-2006 COPAN Worksite Task Force Goals:

  • Develop and implement a Colorado Worksite Wellness system for networking and information sharing statewide.

  • Implement at least one city, region, or community-wide worksite wellness initiative.

  • Mentor and provide technical assistance in the area of worksite wellness to at least one large company.

  • Host 3 regional workshops.

  • Host one Well Workplace training.

  • Plan and host at least four professional development opportunities.

  • Create and disseminate camera-ready worksite wellness implementation materials.

  • Implement a weight management program/initiative in at least 25 worksites.

  • Update the Worksite Resource Kit to include chronic disease programs and comprehensive worksite wellness.

  • Provide at least five to ten grants, not to exceed $25,000 total, to implement worksite wellness programs.

  • 2006-2007 Grant Recipients: The following organizations have received grants through the COPAN Worksite Task Force to implement worksite wellness programs utilizing a planning blueprint from the Wellness Councils of America (WELCOA). The WELCOA blueprint is a seven step process to create a comprehensive wellness program that begins with gaining management support, assembling a wellness team and collecting data; followed by creating a plan, choosing interventions based on data collection, and evaluating outcomes. Interventions range from weight management programs and nutrition seminars to yoga, tai chi classes, and field days. Each grant recipient is required to evaluate outcomes to demonstrate the effectiveness of their program.

       1. Clayton Family Futures, Denver

       2. Chaffee County Public Health, Salida

       3. Hunter Douglas, Broomfield

       4. City of Littleton, Littleton 

       5. Heart Center of the Rockies, Fort Collins

COPAN Worksite Task Force Members:

Organizations: Health Promotion Management, Penrose, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, Rose Medical, Wizard Universal Inc., Weld County Health Department, Mesa County Health Department, Free-Well Inc., City and County of Denver, Colorado State University Cooperative Extension, CIGNA HealthCare, Rocky Mountain Center for Health Promotion, HEALTHBREAK, Inc., Nelnet, Tri-county Health Dept, Colorado Beef Council, Banner Health, Rocky Mountain Health Plans, University of Colorado Health Sciences, Center, Mountain States Employers Coundil

Visit www.copan-co.org and www.welcoa.org for more information.