 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Shae L Donham, PhD, Department Of Health and Human Performance, Northeastern State University, 603 Grand Ave, Tahlequah, OK 74464, 918-456-5511-3909, colemasl@nsuok.edu, Linda D Axley, MS, Cherokee County Health Department, 912 S College, Tahlequah, OK 74464, Carol M Bush, Turning Point Coordinator, Wagoner County Health Department, PO Box 962, Coweta, OK 74429, and Amanda L Smith, Oklahoma Extension Office, Oklahoma State University, 908 S College, Tahlequah, OK 74464.
Putting children back into a physically active lifestyle is the focus of the Cherokee County Community Health Coalition (CCCHC) of Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The population involved lives in a rural area with low socioeconomic status, is highly populated with Native Americans and has a growing Hispanic population. Concerned and motivated health professionals and citizens identified several risk factors affecting children in the community including Type II Diabetes, child obesity and inactivity. As a result, the CCCHC which is a partnership organization with the National Turning Point Initiative, became involved in a coordinated effort to improve the health status of children in three counties of Northeastern Oklahoma. Efforts of the "Healthy Kids for a Healthy Tomorrow" initiative has supported the implementation of a comprehensive health education curriculum. The curriculum is being implemented by community health educators, physical educators and classroom teachers. Financial support has been provided by several grants and future grants are being propsed to implement more sound health and physical education programs. Several schools in the Northeastern part of Oklahoma have received the federal PEP grants and others will be submitting proposals for future funding. The joint effort of the community health workers and others within the community are continuing to work towards the healthy kids initiative by involving families into the programs through several community health forums and health fairs.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Child Health Promotion, Community Collaboration
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: The only way I represent the Children's
Health Market is by training
schools that have made the choice
to adopt the curriculum.