The vision of LiveWell Chaffee County is that all community members are active participants in healthy eating and active living.
The mission of LiveWell Chaffee County is to improve health outcomes and reduce and prevent obesity in the community by increasing physical activity and healthy eating.
The purpose of LiveWell Chaffee County is to encourage, support and promote changes in policy, environment, lifestyle, planning and education in order to achieve our mission and vision.
2010 Childrens Health Fair
Chaffee County is invested in promoting healthy nutrition and physical activity to address the increasing prevalence of the obesity risk factors:
- 2005-2006 data from the Colorado Health Information Dataset indicates that 44.1 percent of people in the region are “overweight” compared to 36.7 percent for the state of Colorado (CDPHE).
- Chaffee County’s death rate due to cardiovascular disease is 251.8, which is significantly higher than the state rate of 221.4. This suggests the county is faced with higher levels of risk factors such as poor nutrition, low physical activity and obesity.
- The 2007 Colorado Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey indicates a strong correlation between income and obesity rates. In 2007, 11.7 percent of Chaffee County residents had an income below the poverty line compared to a statewide rate of 9.3 percent, and per capita wages were approximately $16,000 lower than the state average. In particular, poverty rates for families with children run consistently higher than state levels.
- In 2004, more than 60 percent of Salida middle school youth and 50 percent of high school youth reported taking zero days of physical education classes in the last week. Additionally, 25 percent of Salida middle school youth reported watching 3+ hours of television a night, almost 50 percent of the youth reported eating 0-3 fruit servings in the past week and 25 percent of youth reported drinking milk 0-3 times in the past week. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends 3 servings of milk and fruit per day.
LiveWell Colorado
LiveWell Chaffee County is a one of 22 communities receiving funding from LiveWell Colorado. LiveWell Colorado aims to provide every Coloradoan with access to healthy foods and opportunities for physical activity in the places they live, work, learn and play. This non-profit organization accomplishes this through its mission of inspiring and advancing policy, environmental and lifestyle changes that promote health through the prevention and reduction of obesity. For more information about LiveWell Colorado Community Initiatives, visit www.livewellcolorado.com.
Background
In January 2009, Chaffee County Public Health was awarded a LiveWell Colorado Grant to increase access to healthy eating and active living throughout the community. The first year of planning included forming a coalition that will guide the program and assist with the creation of a Strategic Plan. The LiveWell Chaffee County coalition has over 20 volunteer members including:
- Chaffee County Boys & Girls Club
- Chaffee County Public Health
- Community members
- CSU Extension
- Early Childhood Council
- Family & Youth Initiatives (FYI)
- Farmhands
- Guidestone
- Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center
- Local Business Owners
- Nutritionist/Chef
- Salida School District Nurses
- Salida Recreation
- Town of Buena Vista
- West Central Mental Health Center
Target Areas for LiveWell Chaffee County
- Affect policymaking in school districts and local governments to reflect healthy eating and active living (HEAL) as a value of the community.
- Increase physical activity by:
- Working with local government and agencies to increase policy supportive of increasing physical activity
- Providing additional infrastructure when appropriate to increase access to physical activity
- Assisting with Safe Routes to School planning in both Salida and Buena Vista
- Increase consumption of fruits or vegetables by:
- Increasing affordability and accessibility to healthy foods for lower income populations
- Identifying and engaging local producers, restaurants and grocers in the local food system
- Encouraging school district leaders to evaluate the quality of lunch programs and to include more nutritious foods whenever possible.
- Foster a wellness environment in worksites through:
- Partnering with Chamber of Commerce to recruit and educate businesses
- Educating the business community on benefits worksite wellness
- Implementing evidence-based wellness programs by offering mini-grants to employers
- Organizing a Worksite Wellness Conference in 2010 to educate employers on programs that encourage positive behaviors, in turn improving the health of employees and reducing costs to the employer
Those who are interested in joining the coalition are encouraged to contact Lisa Malde, Director of LiveWell Chaffee County or visit www.livewellcolorado.com for more information.
Lisa Malde, MURP, MUD
Director, LiveWell Chaffee County
Chaffee County Public Health
448 East First Street
Suite 137
Salida, CO 81201
Phone: (719) 530-2569
Cell: (719) 207-2435
Fax: (719) 539-7197
