NE Iowa Food & Fitness Initiative Creating strategies for social change focused on Healthy Living! Social change - Relationships & engagement Productive public dialogue Shaping policy decisions to provide sustainability
Jun 21, 2015
NE Iowa Food & Fitness InitiativeCreating strategies for social change
focused on Healthy Living!Social change -
Relationships & engagementProductive public dialogueShaping policy decisions to provide sustainability
Developing Relationships & Engagement…Common ground
Local Health DataPhysical activityAccessing local health food
How do Americans view issues related to healthy lifestyle?
A Frameworks Institution* Research Report - November 2006
*Partner of W. K. Kellogg Foundation
Report Contents….Explores current
patterns of thinking related to fitness
Strategies that might be most effective in helping people reason about food and fitness.
Revealing Contradictions…American’s lack of fitness:
People are too busy and hardworking to focus on fitness
People are too lazy to focus on fitness
Place of fitness in American culture:
Americans are unconcerned with fitness (look at how overweight we are).
Americans put a strong emphasis on fitness (look at the constant messages from the media).
Revealing Contradictions…
These Contradictions Reflect…Underlying confusion and uncertainty
Need some clear messages that can help organize public discussion and thinking
… about the importance/benefits of fitness
When Americans recognize the importance of fitness…
It’s more of a Personal Ideal than a successful practice
For some, it’s very similar to depositing some money in their savings account every month
Parallels Between Fitness & Monthly Savings
Important in principleSocietal value Achieving it involves sacrifice and
unpleasantnessEveryone knows it’s difficult - with
constant temptations - we don’t expect to be good at it
Despite it’s importance - remains low in priority of practice
Individual choices are visible while systemic factors are not
The issue is viewed as “mental” vs. “material”
Parallels Between Fitness & Monthly Savings (continued)…
It can be hard to imagine what policy solutions might be like
The implications are individual - communities and governments have no stake
We are unsure about new information
Both have extreme cases of “failure”
Parallels Between Fitness & Monthly Savings (continued)…
“Good News” vs. + Health advocates have raised topic of
fitness to prominent level in American culture
“Bad News”- Powerfully dominant frame treats
fitness as a personal issue - obscures any active role for government, community and industry
Result…No “big picture” messages about the role of industries or governments have succeeded in changing the public conversation in a significant way.
Obesity - Ineffective Cognitive “Tool”Obesity consistently understood as
Personal failureA personal choiceLack of awarenessHas not served to create bigger-picture understanding or conversation about fitness
Research Suggests Some Possible Strategies…Work and FitnessEcological ViewThe Food IndustryFitness as a Public Good
Work and Fitness Aspects of our work…
More sedentary Longer hoursLong commutes
Ways employers could make fitness easierEmployers benefit when workers are fit
Strategy = Focus on concrete connections between work and fitness
Ecological View- Needed DiscussionsHow our environment is “engineered” to
promote fitness (or not),Ways the environment pushes us away or
towards health,Ways the environment stacks the odds
against fitness,Ways there are bad fits with our
environment and our genes like natural craving for fat, salt, sugar.
The Food IndustryAmericans need a clearer understanding of
the role of food industry in creating the conditions for health & fitness…
The Industry’s central function is to turn desires and cravings (rather than nutritional needs) into profits.
Strategy = Explanatory messaging - give people new perspective on our food environment
Fitness as a Public Good
We all have a stake in the collective fitness of our community and society.
Need to recognize “public fitness” as resource/quality that we collectively depend on
Achieving Productive Discussions
for Healthy Communities…What does “success” look like?
• Work towards community/regional engagement -- that will shape policies for… Increased opportunities for physical activity Increased access to local healthy food
Where do we begin? Develop a regional understanding of
Active Living Food Systems
What is Active Living?Way of Life --Physical Activity in
Daily RoutinesGoal - 30 minutes/day
Walking/Biking for transportation, exercise or pleasure
Playing in the parkWorking in the yardTaking the stairsUsing recreation facilities
Active Living PrinciplesPhysical activity can improve health and quality of life.
Everyone should have safe, convenient and affordable choices for physical activity.
Places should provide a variety of opportunities for physical activity and accommodate a wide range of individual preferences and abilities.
Active Living Principles…cont’d• Encourage mixed uses, compact design,
and a variety of transportation choices• Buildings should be designed to
promote opportunities for active living, especially active transportation.• Transportation systems, should provide
safe, convenient and affordable access to housing, worksites, schools and community services.
Active Living Principles…cont’dParks/green space should be safe, accessible,
part of a transportation network that connects destinations.
Governing bodies should plan for ongoing collaboration that ensures continued safety, quality and attractiveness of the physical infrastructure.
Community governing/planning processes should address impacts of the built environment and transportation choices on residents' ability to be physically active.
County DiscussionsWhat key points did
you hear?What does this
information mean for your county?
Now what? Start looking specifically at the best practices used across the country.