HOST Healthy Eating And Physical Activity Roundup, July 26, 2018
The latest in our regular roundups of healthy eating and physical activity news from HOST members and others.
Tips and Ideas
- Public spaces such as parks offer places to gather, socialize, and be active -- but not all spaces are created equally or equitably, observes the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in a piece on "Four Ways to Build Inclusive, Healthy Places for All."
- Mayors and city leaders have "significant roles to play" in combating hunger and malnutrition among children and other vulnerable populations, says the National League of Cities, which offers a number of examples on how to do so.
- The Afterschool Alliance profiles the Barclay After School Program in Maryland, which among other activities offers a program that combines math learning with gymnastics lessons for students in pre-K through fifth grade.
Policy and Law
- The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has upheld a tax on sugary beverages in Philadelphia, which American Heart Association CEO Nancy Brown says is "a major victory for the city’s children and families." Across the country, the California Medical Association and the California Dental Association plan to propose a 2020 ballot measure to implement a statewide sugary drink tax.
- The Safe Routes to School National Partnership and the YMCA of the USA have released Making Strides: 2018 State Report Cards on Support for Walking, Bicycling, and Active Kids and Communities. This report analyzes state policy in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to provide a snapshot of each state’s support for walking, biking, and physical activity. Safe Routes to School Marketing and Communications Manager Margaux Mennesson explains more at the Afterschool Alliance blog.
Media and Technology
- It's Time Texas is celebrating the launch of its Choose Healthier app with a $500 giveaway. The app is currently available to Texans in the Austin, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Smithville, Beaumont and Harlingen communities, and is intended to make a healthy lifestyle easier and more convenient by connecting people to many free and low cost healthy activities in their communities.
Recognition
- Build Our Kids' Success (BOKS) has been shortlisted for the 2018 Beyond Sport Global Awards in the Corporate Campaign or Initiative category, selected out of more than 400 entries worldwide.