Community Programs
Around the country, many communities have launched innovative programs to combat obesity and encourage exercise and healthful eating. The most successful programs reach out to many community groups: educators, physicians, health care providers, childcare providers, children and parents.
Tools from the CDC
The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention have compiled recommendations for community programs designed to increase physical activity among young people.
Tools from NIH and the Department of Health and Human Services
We Can! (Ways to Enhance Children’s Activity & Nutrition) is a national education program to help children ages 8 to 13 stay at a healthy weight. The program offers tips and resources for encouraging healthy eating, increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary behavior.
Hundreds of communities across the United States and elsewhere have used this program to create healthier hometowns. Here are some examples:
- Alabama Department of Public Health
- Benton County (OR) Healthy Weight and Lifestyle Coalition
- Boston Public Health Commission, Boston Steps
- City of Tamarac (FL) Parks and Recreation Department
- Gary (IN) Youth Services Bureau and Park Recreation
- Lane Coalition for Healthy Active Youth (Eugene, OR)
- Montgomery County (MD) Department of Recreation
- Operation Better Start (Pittsfield, MA)
- Project Healthy Schools (Ann Arbor, MI)
- Roswell (GA) Recreation and Parks Department/Athens-Clarke (GA) County Leisure Services
- Scott & White Memorial Hospital and Clinic (Temple, TX)
- South Bend (IN) Parks and Recreation Department
- University of Nevada Las Vegas Department of Nutrition Sciences/City of Henderson Department of Parks and Recreation
- Springfield-Greene County (MO) Park and Recreation
