RD332 - 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 (VFHY) Board of Trustees to devote at least $1 million per year from its budget toward childhood obesity prevention efforts.

The majority of this funding has been dedicated to VFHY’s Healthy Community Action Teams (HCAT) program.

In 2014, VFHY awarded its third round of two-year HCAT childhood obesity prevention grants. VFHY awarded $1.19 million in HCAT grants for FY15 and FY16 to establish and/or support 20 community partnerships across Virginia to fight childhood obesity on the local level. Funding and training provided by VFHY through the HCAT grants allow these community organizations to implement promising practices in childhood obesity prevention suggested by the national Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (A list of grant recipients can be found on page 10 of this report.)

VFHY’s HCAT grantees implement a variety of IOM/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; increasing breastfeeding; and increasing awareness of good nutrition habits. HCAT grantees, which were selected by an independent grants application review panel, are required to comply with VFHY evaluation and reporting procedures.

Communities being served by VFHY’s FY15-16 HCAT grantee programs include: Arlington County, Alexandria, Augusta County, the Eastern Shore, Halifax County, Hampton Roads, Harrisonburg, Henry County, Lee County, Martinsville, the Middle Peninsula, New River Valley, Northern Neck, Norton, Page County, Richmond, Roanoke, Rockbridge County, Scott County, Smyth County, Stafford, Suffolk, Warren County and Wise County.

Additionally, VFHY will hold its fourth Weight of the State childhood obesity conference in April 2015. The conference will feature expert speakers from Virginia and across the nation. The conference’s goals include strengthening and expanding local, regional and state capacity to promote access to healthy foods and nutrition, opportunities for physical activity and to reduce obesity. About 20 plenary and breakout sessions will provide participants with information about emerging practices in childhood obesity prevention and replicable models for participants to take back to their communities. More than 400 stakeholders, including leaders from education, healthcare, community engagement, agriculture, transportation and public health will attend the conference to share best practices and hear from experts about emerging trends in childhood obesity prevention. The 2015 conference will highlight First Lady of Virginia Dorothy McAuliffe’s “Bridging the Nutritional Divide” initiative.

VFHY also holds Virginia Healthy Youth Day events every January to promote increased physical activity and better nutrition for children. Established by a Virginia General Assembly resolution, Virginia Healthy Youth Day is sponsored by VFHY and promotes healthy lifestyles for Virginia’s children, including eating right, exercising and not using tobacco products. The fifth annual Virginia Healthy Youth Day was held on Jan. 15, 2014. Past Virginia Healthy Youth Day events have been a great success: In 2013, more than 5,600 children participated in more than 20 locations across Virginia from Northern Virginia to far Southwest Virginia. The 2014 Virginia Healthy Youth Day flagship event was held at the University of Richmond’s Robins Center and more than 1,600 children from Richmond-area public schools participated.

Other major VFHY childhood obesity prevention initiatives to promote healthy eating and active living for youth and families include partnering with the First Lady of Virginia, developing statewide awareness initiatives and engaging youth in obesity prevention.

VFHY is partnering with First Lady of Virginia Dorothy McAuliffe on her initiative, “Bridging the Nutritional Divide,” which focuses on the areas of childhood nutrition and food security. Through this partnership, VFHY works in cross-agency collaborations with DOE, VDH the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, DSS and other agencies to improve food delivery systems so that nutritious and fresh food products are more accessible to Virginia’s children and families. Specific projects focus on increasing participation in Virginia’s Summer Food Service Program, marketing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) access and increasing SNAP participation at farmers’ markets and targeting regions of Virginia with high needs for nutrition assistance and education. VFHY is also spearheading a school breakfast initiative, engaging groups across the state including the Virginia School Nutrition Association and school and community partners, promoting school breakfast as a strategy to improve health and education outcomes.

Each year VFHY hosts Rev Your Bev, a statewide initiative to raise awareness about the health effects of consuming sugar-sweetened beverages. Rev Your Bev brings community groups, educators and health advocates together to change the way Virginians think about beverages. Since 2013 more than 100,000 Virginians and approximately 420 partner organizations have participated in Rev Your Bev events across the state. The Rev Your Bev initiative culminates each May when partners celebrate Rev Your Bev Day with interactive displays and educational opportunities. In addition to raising awareness about sugary drinks, Rev Your Bev Day events collect information via surveys to learn Virginians’ perceptions of sugary drinks. Previous Rev Your Bev survey results revealed that Virginians of all ages are unaware of the health effects of sugar-sweetened beverages. Additionally, data from the surveys indicate that individuals living in Southwest Virginia drink more sugar-sweetened beverages than individuals who live in other regions of Virginia. This finding has sparked plans for a regional Rev Your Bev focus in Southwest Virginia in 2015.

Y Street, VFHY’s award-winning, youth-led, volunteer initiative, has also embarked on projects related to nutrition and physical activity. To date, almost 7,000 teens have participated in Y Street across Virginia. Y Street members help improve the policy environment, change social norms and increase awareness of health issues that are important to them.

Y Street has selected two campaigns to improve the nutrition and physical activity environments in Virginia. Y Street’s ActOut Campaign has engaged Virginia school districts and encourages schools to implement physical education each day. In 2013 Y Street released the results of a survey showing that 94 percent of Virginians support requiring at least 30 minutes of daily physical education in elementary and middle schools. During FY15 teen Y Street volunteers shared their survey findings with local school district leaders including school boards and principals.

To improve nutrition and address food deserts in Virginia, Y Street has launched Fresh Spot to increase community access to fresh, affordable, locally grown produce through neighborhood corner stores and supermarkets. Through Fresh Spot, Y Street members collect information about the availability and accessibility of fresh, nutritious foods and provide consumer education on gaps in access to healthy foods. The goal of Fresh Spot is to increase the number of stores offering healthy, fresh food options to customers in communities across Virginia.

Held each May, Screen-Free Week is a national initiative to encourage children and families to get unplugged from televisions, computers and electronic devices and find fun ways to be physically active instead. VFHY has partnered with the Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, early childhood education advocates and local librarians for Screen-Free Week activities.

VFHY partners annually with VDOT each October to observe national Walk to School Day, an event to encourage safe walking and biking to school. In FY2014 more than 185 schools across Virginia participated in Walk to School Day.

VFHY also celebrates National Childhood Obesity Awareness month each September by highlighting the successes of local VFHY grantees working in their communities to promote healthy eating, physical activity and obesity prevention.

Finally, VFHY collaborated with VDH to administer the Virginia Youth Survey. This biennial statewide youth health survey, which was administered in fall 2013, provides information on nutrition, physical activity and other health behaviors for Virginia middle and high school students. Through this partnership, VFHY and VDH are reducing the overall cost of conducting multiple surveys and the burden on schools. Additionally, for the first time, the data collection provides regional statistics, which will assist in determining geographic areas with the greatest need for services or intervention.