RD239 - Obesity Prevention Funding for Community-based Organizations in the Commonwealth


Executive Summary:
During the 2009 General Assembly session, the General Assembly directed the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth Board of Trustees to devote at least $1 million from VFHY’s budget exclusively to childhood obesity prevention efforts on the community level.

The majority of this funding was dedicated to VFHY’s Healthy Communities Action Teams (HCAT) program. VFHY awarded more than $1.25 million in HCAT grants over FY 2011 and 2012 to establish and/or support 22 local community coalitions across Virginia to fight childhood obesity. Funding and training provided by VFHY through the HCAT grants allow community organizations to implement identified promising practices in childhood obesity prevention suggested by the national Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In FY 2011, HCAT grant recipients will receive $627,638.50. (A list of grant recipients can be found on page 8 of this report.)

HCAT grantees will implement a variety of CDC-suggested strategies for childhood obesity prevention, such as working with or establishing farmers’ markets to increase community access to fresh produce; increasing physical activity in children enrolled in afterschool programs; creating and maintaining community gardens; and establishing safe neighborhood playgrounds. HCAT grantees, which were selected by an independent grants application review panel, will be required to comply with VFHY evaluation and reporting procedures.

Communities being served by HCAT grantee programs include: Alexandria, Blacksburg, Carroll County, Charlottesville, Danville, Floyd County, Fredericksburg, Galax, Gate City, Giles County, Hampton Roads, Henry County, Jamestown, Lee County, Martinsville, McLean, New River Valley, Norfolk, Northern Neck, Norton, Petersburg, Pittsylvania County, Prince William County, Rappahannock, Richmond, Roanoke, Scott County, Smyth County, Staunton, Suffolk, Tazewell County, Williamsburg, Wise County and Yorktown.

Additionally, VFHY co-hosted its second annual Weight of the State childhood obesity conference in October 2011. Chaired by Virginia First Lady Maureen McDonnell, the conference featured expert speakers from Virginia and across the nation. The goals of the conference were to strengthen and expand local, regional and state capacity to promote access to healthy foods and nutrition, opportunities for physical activity and to reduce obesity. In partnership with the Virginia chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the conference offered Continuing Medical Education credits to participating physicians.

The Weight of the State conference featured six tracks focusing on: Healthy Nutrition and Access to Healthy Foods; Community Collaborations for Healthy Kids; Research to Practice; School and Afterschool; Healthcare; and Physical Activity and Active Transportation. VFHY utilized a Call for Abstracts process to select many of the presenters from across Virginia. Approximately 42 abstracts were submitted and 20 were selected. Other national, state and local presenters were invited to provide emerging trends on topics such as Food Marketing to Children, the Tipping Point of Childhood Obesity and Fuel Up to Play 60. More than 30 sessions provided emerging practices in childhood obesity prevention and replicable resources for participants to take back to their community.

In spring 2011, VFHY began preparations for its second survey of childhood obesity prevalence in Virginia among children ages 10 to 17. VFHY staff members worked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Virginia Commonwealth University’s (VCU) Survey and Evaluation Research Laboratory (SERL) and the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) in preparation for a late fall implementation of three statewide youth surveys, including the 2011 Virginia Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey (VNPAS) and the 2011 Virginia Youth Survey (VYS). Packages with a letter of support from the Secretaries of HHR and Education, a parent letter and opt-out form, sample surveys and response form were distributed to school superintendents in August and September. The surveys will be administered in randomly selected schools throughout the state that agree to participate.

Data from the 2011 Virginia Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey will be compared to baseline data gathered from the 2009 survey. Among the 2009 survey’s findings: The highest childhood obesity rate in the commonwealth is found in Southwest Virginia (28%), followed by Southeast Virginia (24%). Obesity rates are lowest in Northern Virginia (20%) and Central Virginia (17%).

VFHY will also be offering Healthy Youth Day mini-grants to communities all across Virginia to hold events in January 2012 to promote increased physical activity and better nutrition for children. Established by a Virginia General Assembly resolution, Virginia Healthy Youth Day is held every Jan. 20 by the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth (VFHY) and promotes healthy lifestyles for Virginia’s children, including eating right, exercising and not using tobacco products. The second annual Virginia Healthy Youth Day in 2011 was a great success: More than 5,600 children participated in 20 locations across Virginia from Northern Virginia to far Southwest Virginia. First Lady of Virginia Maureen McDonnell was the keynote speaker at the flagship event at the State Capitol, which featured American Family Fitness instructors leading more than 400 Chesterfield County schoolchildren in exercises on the Capitol lawn. Mascots from Richmond-area universities and sports teams, including Virginia Commonwealth University and the Richmond Flying Squirrels were also in attendance.

Other major VFHY childhood obesity prevention initiatives include a childhood-obesity prevention campaign called ActOut that will be implemented by teen volunteers in VFHY’s Y Street program, which is overseen by VFHY’s Marketing department. Believed to be the largest group of its type in the nation, Y Street is an award-winning volunteer teen-led empowerment movement funded by VFHY. VFHY has trained more than 4,000 high-school students to participate in Y Street. In 2011, Y Street received the national Youth Advocates of the Year group award from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

The objective of Y Street’s ActOut Campaign is to increase statewide youth participation in making healthy lifestyle choices through focusing on positive, fun and social aspects of physical activity and good nutrition. The campaign will use survey assessments and grass-roots activism to enhance community awareness toward the importance and benefits of a healthy lifestyle.

VFHY’s Marketing department will also continue its Step Royale initiative to encourage physical activity among at-risk, teens active in the hip-hop culture in urban, African-American communities in the Hampton Roads region. Billed as The Ultimate Step-Dancing Competition, Step Royale aims to change social norms and encourage physical fitness and healthy eating, particularly among urban young people who may not be attracted to traditional team sports. Dozens of new step and dance teams have been formed and participated in a Step Royale competition since it began.

The balance of VFHY’s dedicated childhood obesity funding will be applied to administrative costs for grants management, trainings related to the VFHY childhood obesity prevention initiatives such as the HCAT grants, the Step Royale program and Y Street’s ActOut campaign, evaluation and the statewide youth survey to measure factors related to obesity.