Visit from Delegate Morefield

Julia Wood with Mount Rogers Community Services was a terrific hostess this week to Delegate Will Morefield at Bland High School. Julia and I discussed with the Delegate the Life Skills Training program that she implements in grades 3-8 in Bland and Rocky Gap thanks to her VFHY tobacco use prevention grant. GO BEARS!

VFHY Programs SHINE!

Hats off to Bethany Webb of New River Valley Community Services and JD Carlin of Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare for their recent feature on NEWS 7!

Here are some photos of them hard at work (while cameras were rolling!) with kids in Roanoke City and Montgomery County. Both of these folks made all of us look great as the local television station highlighted what Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) funds are doing in our portion of the state.

If you didn't see last night's story, click here for the segment:
http://www.wdbj7.com/health/wdbj7-tobacco-money-to-keep-kids-healthy-has-it-gone-up-in-smoke-20111027,0,3538248.story

CVS Sells Poison Project

Drug stores are supposed to help us feel better when we are sick, right?

So have you ever thought about why cigarettes are available at the check out of these retailers? The very same lethal product that ends the life of over 400,000 Americans each year. The same product that causes cancer, heart disease, and emphysema that result in $75 billion in health care costs to treat. The same product that hooks hundreds of thousands of new, young smokers year in and year out.

One project is aimed at changing this contradiction in terms for CVS.

Check out the CVS sells poison project here: ww.ToxicTobaccoLaw.org/13news.shtml#CVS

Their objective is to get CVS pharmacy (over 7,000 stores, 500 medical clinics) to stop advertising, promoting, distributing and selling lethal, addictive cigarettes. CVS pharmacy claims to be the world's largest pharmacy health care provider, licensed by the states to promote health and provide care.

Check out their music video CVS sells poison The song at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjpqXQc4tKg or search for "CVS sells poison on YouTube. Over 6,000 views so far.

Last week, CVS Pharmacy was called upon "...to stop advertising, promoting, distributing and selling lethal, addictive cigarettes at its over 7,000 stores."

Earlier this year CVS's public relations department stated, "As a healthcare provider, we acknowledge that the sale of tobacco products in our stores is a challenging issue."

According to this Project's Director, Terence A. Gerace, PhD, "CVS should announce plans to stop selling cigarettes before Christmas 2011. Walgreens and Rite Aid will have to follow suit."

9-5-2-1-0 Scavenger Hunt in Danville

Check out this fun and educational scavenger hunt conducted by the fine folks at Virginia Tech and the Dan River Partnership for a Healthy Community.

At the October 8th River Festival in Danville, kids were given a clue card and challenged to find the answers to questions about healthy living. Their results would send them to various stations numbered 9-5-2-1-0 (for 9 hours of sleep, 5 fruits and veggies per day, 2 hours or less or screen time, 1 hour of physical activity and 0 sugary beverages). As you can tell from the photos, kids and parents alike had a great time and were given an adventurous opportunity to learn some healthy activities for the entire family!

The Nag Factor and Junk Food Ads

Follow the link below to an article that caught my eye recently. Yes this may have to do with the fact that I have two young kids who can be EXPERT naggers at the grocery store from time to time!

It's worth the read and might make you reconsider your take on Chester Cheetah.

Does anyone else remember a time when a certain OTHER company used an animated character to lure kids to use their product??

www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/16/nag-factor-junk-fund_n_928253.html

If only there could be a series of cool, hip health nut type characters that kids would flock to...

Dan River Partnership for a Healthy Community

This HCAT group in the greater Danville area is partnering with some fine folks at Virginia Tech to assess their existing nutrition environment and physical activity outlets. Click on the link below to read the news article about their efforts on GoDanRiver.com!

http://www2.godanriver.com/news/2011/aug/06/students-map-out-where-food-exercise-available-dan-ar-1221056/

Worldwide Day of Play

Mark your calendars for Saturday, September 24th as the Worldwide Day of Play!

Nickelodeon has invited groups across Virginia and the nation to "Get Up, Get Out and Go Play!" On this day, the Nickelodeon channels and website will go dark in an effort to encourage youth and families to turn off the tv and be active, especially outdoors. This is a collaborative effort with First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move campaign and the President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition.

Now is the time to plan an event in your town - hold a dance off, games day, bike-a-thon, or water balloon fight for youth and families in your community. For more information or to register your group or event, visit www.nick.com/thebighelp/road-to-wwdop.html
Groups that register by September 14th will see their name scroll across tv screens tuned to Nickelodeon!

Galax Bike Rodeo

Three cheers for the Twin County Healthy Communities Action Team (HCAT) for their recent Bike Rodeo event!

This new HCAT was delighted to have state Senator Roscoe Reynolds pay a visit to their free, fun kids' bike rodeo on July 21st at Felts Park in Galax.

The team worked together to provide free bike helmets for participants, bike safety training, some nutritional information, a fun bike course and luckily some ice cold water for all.

Kudos to all of the groups who helped out - TurnKey KB & Associates, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Galax Police Department and others for making it happen!

PreventObesity.net

Want to connect with others working on family/childhood obesity initiatives? Take a look at www.preventobesity.net for ways to network online with other specialists in this field.

There's not much on the map yet for Southwest Virginia but if our HCAT-funded groups sign up and promote it to their coalition partners, local university researchers, volunteers and other wellness professionals, we could greatly increase our potential for collaboration and possibly coordinate efforts in the future.

VA County Health Rankings

Almost all of you seek out city/county level data for grant applications or to share with your community. These new County Health Rankings may be particularly helpful to you.

If you haven't already visited this site to see the Virginia map, click on the link below and find your county. You can get all kinds of cool data and see how your county stacks up against the rest of the state!

www.countyhealthrankings.org/virginia

Working on Substance Abuse Prevention/Treatment in SWVA?

If you answered YES, you must get a copy of this new resource.

This blueprint, developed by One Care of SWVA Inc. is a tremendous tool that can be shared with decision makers, community leaders and those working in the trenches of the substance abuse field here in SWVA.

It is the result of several regional planning meetings involving our local public health leaders, the faith community, colleges, universities, social services, and CSB professionals among others. This blueprint does a fantastic job of framing the substance abuse problem in our region and outlines a coordinated approach with goals and objectives that can help move SWVA into a healthier future.

I have several copies on hand and will happily send one to you if you're interested!

You'll FLIP over this!

We've got a great new loaner resource for all of you grant-funded folks!

A new Flip Video Camera that can record up to one hour of all of those fantastic programs, events and special activities that your groups are conducting!

These new cameras are available for loan so contact me if you'd like to check one out for an upcoming event. It comes with simple directions, software for your computers and a USB for charging the device and a USB for downloading the content. This will be a new and easy way to capture, organize and share video footage of some of our fantastic initiatives so be sure to take advantage of it!

1-800-QUIT-NOW

Did you know that the Virginia Quitline services have been expanded this year?

The line is staffed with LIVE quit coaches and counselors, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with unlimited calls for those age 13 years and older. In addition, Medicaid and uninsured populations are eligible for FREE nicotine gum or patches.

Do your part today to help promote the 1-800-QUIT-NOW number. Post this info in your office or share it with others. It's also a great resource for employers who promote tobacco use cessation for their staff.

If you have questions about this campaign or the available resources, let me know.

Mini Grants -- Re-Release!

These mini-grants have been re-released so be sure to visit www.preventionconnections.org/funding.shtml for all of the details!

Feb 8 - Childhood Obesity Event in NRV

Come visit an exciting Childhood Obesity kickoff event for the

Virginia Interfaith Center

Tuesday, February 8th

from 5:30-7p.m.

at the

Blacksburg Church of Christ (315 Eakin Street, B'burg)

Join parents, faith leaders, educators and other community members as they discuss ways to promote 5-2-1-0 for kids and other ways to make a diference in your faith community.

To register for the event, click here:

www.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Invitation.aspx?e=2705cd2a-d15d-422a-a1c5-fb62149c37d4