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American Public Health Association
133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition
December 10-14, 2005
Philadelphia, PA
APHA 2005
 
4128.0: Tuesday, December 13, 2005 - 12:30 PM

Abstract #107883

Washington state plan for physical activity and nutrition: Measures of success

Marilyn H. Sitaker, MPH, Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, Nutrition & Physical Activity Section, Washington State Department of Health, 7211 Cleanwater Lane, Bldg 15, Tumwater, WA 98504, 360-236-3463, marilyn.sitaker@doh.wa.gov and Donna B. Johnson, RD, PhD, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington, Nutritional Sciences Program, BOX 353410, Seattle, WA 98195.

The Washington State Plan for Physical Activity and Nutrition seeks to change policies in order to create environments that support people in following the dietary guidelines for Americans and meeting the recommendations for sufficient physical activity. While state-level surveillance systems are in place to measure the expected reductions in chronic disease and obesity in the long-term, and the necessary changes in individual behavior in the medium-term, no state-level data systems have been devised to monitor policies and environments related to physical activity and nutrition. The State Plan logic model will be presented to describe how evidence-based strategies to increase access to health-promoting foods, increase low-cost recreational opportuntities for physical activity and promote active community environments are expected to change individual behavior, resulting in reduction of disease. Data systems used to measure outcomes at each step of the process are described. These include 2 existing systems, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and the Healthy Youth Survey, that track individual behavior and prevalence of obesity, diabetes & cardiovascular disease. Policies and environments in the school, worksite, healthcare and community sectors are monitored using data from the School Health Profiles Survey (SHPS), and newly-developed data collection systems that monitor policies in the Worksite, Healthcare settings and the community. The development of these new systems is briefly described and preliminary data are shared, along with the baseline measures from exisiting surveillance systems.

Learning Objectives:

  • Participants will learn about the Washington State Plan for physical Activity and Nutrition which uses a policy and environment approach to "make the healthy choice, the easy choice";
  • Learn about the conceptual model that predicts how changes behaviors which lead to obesity and chronic disease progress towards are influenced by policy and environmental change; and
  • Learn about the development of a state surveillance system to measure policies and environments related to physical activity and nutrition, consisting of exisiting and newly developed databases to track information in the following sectors

    Keywords: Epidemiology, Evaluation

    Presenting author's disclosure statement:

    I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

    State and Local Initiatives to Promote Healthy Lives

    The 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition (December 10-14, 2005) of APHA