Thanks to the HSCI Grant awarded to ESMM Fairfield, elementary Schools will all have fresh fruit and vegetable gardens.

A CATCH advisory committee meets in every elementary school and middle school to coordinate the many levels of the program, from education to training. School nurses also help manage CATCH work. They support keeping physical activity and nutrition on the agenda.

Tuesdays at 6 – 7 p.m.

Pay the program fee of $60. (Bring a friend or spouse and the 2nd person pays $50)

(NOTE: Attend 10 of 12 classes in the series and earn a $15 reward upon program completion)

Instructors: Sandy Kammermann, MS, EdS and Mac Russell, RD

**For More information OR if you want to register call: Sandy at Martin Primary Health Care Center, 635-6099 or Mac at Fairfield Diabetes Education Center, 712-0372.

This program is sponsored by “Eat Smart, Move More Fairfield”

The HYPE Team is being trained on advocacy for policy, systems, and environmental changes to improve nutrition and increase physical activity in Fairfield County. HYPE stands for Healthy Young People Empowerment.

Learn more about the program on The HYPE Project website.

B Eat a healthy Breakfast

5 Eat at least Five or more servings of fruits and vegetables

4 Drink Four glasses of water

3 Have Three servings of low-fat dairy

2 Limit screen time (computer, TV, phone, video games) to Two hours

1 Be physically active for at least One hour

0 Zero sugar-sweetened beverages

Part of Elite Group Participating in “Collaborate for Healthy Weight,” a Groundbreaking Initiative to Improve Obesity Prevention and Treatment in Local Communities

Fairfield County, South Carolina, March 6, 2012 – With obesity levels in the United States at all-time highs, Fairfield County healthcare leaders are working together to make local improvements through “Collaborate for Healthy Weight,” a national effort to reverse the epidemic through innovative local partnerships between primary care providers, public health professionals, and leaders of community-based organizations. Fairfield County is one of 50 locations across the country participating in this groundbreaking program that will bring solutions to the local community and share strategies on a broader scale. The effort is being led by the National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality (NICHQ), in partnership with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

The U.S. has the highest rate of obesity among all developed nations. At current rates, three in four Americans will become overweight or obese by 2020.

“Obesity constitutes a grave threat to the health and well-being of our nation, with a particularly strong impact on diverse and disadvantaged communities,” said Charles Homer, MD, MPH, president and CEO of NICHQ, a Boston-based non-profit dedicated to improving the care systems responsible for the health of all children. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with 50 pioneering communities across the country to find breakthrough solutions to this serious public health problem.”

“We are delighted that NICHQ has selected our team from Fairfield County to participate in this initiative based on our solid commitment to achieving healthy weight and health equity in our community,” said team leader Mac Russell, RD, LDN, Chair of Eat Smart Move More Fairfield and dietitian with Fairfield Memorial Hospital. “We look forward to sharing what we learn in this project with communities in other areas of the country.”

Along with Eat Smart Move More Fairfield, the cross-sectoral team also includes representatives from:

• Blue Granite Medical Center
• Fairfield Memorial Hospital
• John A. Martin Primary Health Care Center
• Fairfield Diabetes Education Center
• Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce
• Fairfield County Health Department
• Fairfield County School District
• Upper Midlands Rural Health Network
• Fairfield County Recreational Department

This project will focus on reaching primarily overweight and obese adult and pediatric patients of the John A. Martin Primary Health Care Center and Blue Granite Medical Center. Sandy Kammermann, Research Director for the John A. Martin Primary Health Care Center reports that, “the number of overweight pediatric and adults patients in our center is increasing yearly. We are excited to have the opportunity to participate in this nationwide Collaborative for Healthy Weight and perhaps make a difference in Fairfield County”.

The 50 teams from across the country participating in the Collaborate for Healthy Weight initiative will learn from national experts, exchange ideas, and create plans for becoming best practice models for other communities to follow. The project will run through February 2013. To see a complete list of participating locations, go to: www.collaborateforhealthyweight.org/About/Collaborative/Meet-the-HWC-Teams.aspx.

“We are so proud of these communities that are laying the groundwork for tackling this complex and serious issue,” Dr. Homer added. “As their work gets underway, these efforts will make a huge difference in the lives of children and their families across the nation.”

“Collaborate for Healthy Weight” is a two-phased project supported through the Prevention and Public Health Fund under the Affordable Care Act and made possible by a cooperative agreement from HRSA. NICHQ is leading a coalition of partner organizations that is managing all program logistics and overseeing the work of participating teams.

For more information about this initiative, visit www.collaborateforhealthyweight.org or www.NICHQ.org.

Agnes Macfie Russell
Registered Dietitian
Chair, Eat Smart Move More Fairfield

Introduction:

The Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) Program encompasses every aspect of the school environment to promote healthy lifestyles. It is designed to “build an alliance of parents, teachers, child nutrition personnel, school staff, and community partners to teach children and their families how to be healthy for a lifetime.” 1The CATCH Program consists of four components: Eat Smart School Nutrition Guide, Go for Health Classroom curriculum, CATCH physical Education, and family Home Team activities. All of these areas reinforce positive healthful behaviors throughout a child’s day and make it clear that good health and learning go hand in hand.1

Planning:
Kelly Miller Elementary School (KMES) is a small 270 student school in rural Fairfield County, SC. Bringing CATCH to KMES was truly a collaborative effort on part of the Fairfield Community Coordinating Council’s (FCCC) Nutrition Committee. The John A. Martin Primary Health Care Center, an active member of the FCCC Nutrition Committee and part of the School of Medicine of USC received a grant from the Fullerton Foundation to help build and support the existing community nutrition network in Fairfield County.

With this funding, FCCC Nutrition Committee decided to focus on working with school aged children to support preventative health programs that provided nutrition education, physical activity and family engagement. CATCH was a perfect fit –it was evidenced based and it worked.

The CATCH Program has scientifically demonstrated that school environments can be created that effect healthy behavioral changes in children. As published in the Journal of the American Medical Association2, the CATCH Main Trial (1991-1994) demonstrated that CATCH:
1. Reduced total fat and saturated fat content of school lunches;
2. Increased moderate-to-vigorous physical activity during P.E. classes, and;
3. Improved students’ self-reported eating and physical activity behaviors.
Furthermore, the effects of the CATCH Main trial persisted over three years without continued intervention.1

With the help of funds from the Fullerton Foundation, the FCCC Nutrition Committee was able to purchase the curriculum, equipment and activity boxes for the school.

Training:
With the curriculum and equipment on the way, the FCCC Nutrition Committee began working closely with the Coordinator of Comprehensive Health at the Fairfield School District to help acquire a grant from SC Healthy Schools to cover the cost of the CATCH training. The school district stood firmly behind this endeavor and paid the teachers for attending the Saturday, January 5, 2008 training. Training day was very successful with 95% of KMES staff attending, as well as members of the FCCC Nutrition Committee, SC Healthy Schools, Fairfield School District administrators and SCICORD.

The CATCH Texas Team has conducted workshops and presentations in over 20 states around the country, Canada and around the world for the U.S. Department of Defense. CATCH Training Workshops are fun, dynamic and multi-dimensional workshops designed to provide the knowledge, skills and tools to successfully implement and/or support the CATCH Program. A CATCH Training penetrates much deeper than imparting the intricate and specialized knowledge of the program. They are designed to identify specific campus needs, and facilitate practical solutions toward guiding school communities in their efforts to help children be healthy for a lifetime.1

Implementing:
After the intense but fun full day of CATCH training, KMES staff began implementing the CATCH program. First on the agenda was to form a CATCH committee, a must have if the program is to be implemented correctly and efficiently. This committee is chaired by the KMES school nurse. The committee consists of community members, parents, teachers and other school staff. The CATCH committee meets regularly to schedule CATCH events, such as Family Fun Nights, and to come up with CATCH ideas, such as CATCH tip of the day, family newsletters, display items, etc. It has taken a team effort in creating a positive atmosphere to promote a healthy lifestyle. CATCH works if everyone makes a determined effort to make it work. This includes teachers, administrators, school nutrition staff, community partners, parents and students alike.

The school nurse stated, that” Kelly Miller Elementary is really excited about implementing CATCH activities. Teachers help children learn about the differences between”GO”,”SLOW” and “WHOA” foods. Teachers and staff drive home the messages during classroom discussions about eating healthy foods and the importance of exercise. Teachers and staff at Kelly Miller not only emphasize the importance of exercise but they try to show children that exercising can be fun! Together parents, teachers, and community leaders can help to enforce the CATCH program and create positive outcomes and promote healthy lifestyle choices.”

Barriers:
All schools are very focused on curriculum and academic achievements, and they should be. But with the prominence on testing, health and wellness programs have taken more of a back seat in the learning process. There is little time in the school day to have children active and learning about healthy living. Federal Wellness policies and the SC Student Health and Fitness Act are attempting to change this. But still, finding leaders within the schools that were interested in advocating for physical activity and nutrition programs like CATCH took some time. There were also many staff changes, but based on the short-term positive outcomes observed in the first few months of implementation, KMES has made a strong commitment to continue the CATCH program.

SUCCESS!
The key to the success of CATCH is to find the right people within the community and schools that care about children’s health and have a strong belief in using evidenced based programs like CATCH that promote healthy living. These people understand and know that a healthy and active child will do better in school. Taking this collaborative and committed approach to the planning and implementation of CATCH worked at KMES. Because of this commitment, the Fairfield School District and the FCCC Nutrition Committee, backed by the support and funding of SCICORD, plan to implement CATCH in all the district’s elementary schools in the 2009-2010 school year.

Evaluation:
Funding from SCICORD will allow for CATCH to be evaluated by the School of Medicine, University of South Carolina. In efforts to show the Fairfield School District as well as other districts around the state that CATCH can and does work, BMI data and attitude and behavior questionnaires from KMES students have been collected and are undergoing evaluation at this time.

http://communityhealth.mc.duke.edu/dynamic/assets/ActionGuide.pdf