By Rosa Ramirez, Go for the Gold Campaign Manager
In August, HSC helped kick off the Go for the Gold Campaign, a partnership between Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and HSC with the USDA Midwest and the Illinois State Board of Education to help Chicago schools meet the high standards for food, fitness and nutrition education set by the USDA’s HealthierUS School Challenge. The HealthierUS School Challenge is the program that First Lady Michelle Obama is urging schools to take on as part of her Let's Move initiative.
Today we're pleased to highlight the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children (CLOCC), one great resource to help schools meet this challenge.
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"Our goal is to confront the childhood obesity epidemic by promoting healthy and active lifestyles for children throughout out Chicago," says Anna Barnes, schools program coordinator for CLOCC.
CLOCC works to do just that by fostering and facilitating connections between various school stakeholders including children, families, school administrators, public health advocates, and communities.
The cornerstone message of CLOCC's public education campaign is 5-4-3-2-1 Go!
It stands for: Five servings of fruits and vegetables a day; four servings of water a day; three servings of low-fat dairy a day; two hours or less of screen time a day; and one hour or more of physical activity a day.
Flyers, presentations, and fact sheets are available for schools, community organizations, churches and others to use, either alone or integrated into existing programs. A list of existing free or low-cost curricula that align with the message is available on the website. This type of messaging helps schools provide nutrition education through multiple channels, a key part of the HealthierUS School Challenge. To learn more about 5-4-3-2-1 Go! and upcoming training opportunities, please click here.
CLOCC spearheads six working groups open to educators, policymakers, practitioners and the public that focus on different aspects of childhood obesity prevention from policy to a community’s built environment (the physical structures within a community). In particular, the school systems working group serves as a resource to schools and school administrators as they promote increased physical activity and improved nutrition in schools.
A major initiative of the school systems working group is the Healthy Teacher Network, a forum to assist and empower teachers in their efforts to create a healthy school environment. By offering professional development workshops for school staff, teachers earn professional development credits, connect with service providers that offer free or low-cost programs to Chicago schools, and most importantly, participants become role models for other educators looking to address obesity prevention in their schools. To learn how to get involved, please click here.
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Throughout the school year, CLOCC offers a variety of resources that help schools Go for the Gold! To learn more about CLOCC, visit www.clocc.net.
To learn more about the Go for the Gold Campaign, click here.
I love to hear of initiatives like this! Childhood obesity is a serious problem- glad to see they are trying to do something about it!
Posted by: Cynthia | November 16, 2010 at 07:40 PM
we are forgetting an important part... EDUCATION. kids need nutritional education so they can make smart choices and grow up to teach the next generation!
Posted by: barbara | November 21, 2010 at 06:21 PM