A Brown County initiative to reduce childhood obesity has gotten a boost from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Live54218, a collaboration between the Green Bay Press-Gazette and other community organizations, recently received $88,000 through Action Communities for Health, Innovation and EnVironmental change (ACHIEVE), an initiative of the CDC.
“We are just absolutely thrilled,” said Jen Van Den Elzen, director of Live54218. “Where (the program) has gone is just remarkable, through community partnership to support the program.
“Receiving this grant … will really propel this movement to the next phase.”
Live54218 is a communitywide project to build partnerships to raise public awareness of the benefits of physical activity and of the harmful effects of poor nutrition. The program’s name is intended to resemble a ZIP code, with each digit corresponding to daily recommendations for healthy living: five fruits and vegetables, four bottles of water, two hours’ maximum of screen time, at least one hour of exercise and eight hours of sleep.
The program kicked off in 2011, and its next steps will be to increase access to farmers markets, impact community street plans to encourage walking and biking, implement physical activity policies for child care, and introduce broad strategies for physical activity in schools.
The grant will help Live54218 accomplish these goals by increasing the program’s staffing and launching it as a full-fledged program, which will increase its presence in households, Van Den Elzen said.
“It’s a very continuous message throughout the community,” she said.
Through ACHIEVE, a collaboration between local communities and national organizations, Live54218 also will work closely with its new mentor community, Portland, Ore., to produce policy, systems and environmental impact.
Organizations involved in Live54218 include Bellin Health and its THRIVE program, the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, the city of Green Bay, Encompass Early Education and Childcare Inc., the Oneida Tribe of Indians, Birds Eye Frozen Division of Pinnacle Foods, the Brown County Planning Department, the Green Bay School District and the Press-Gazette.