By Liz Kresse
February 6, 2006

Highlighting their concern over the national obesity epidemic among children, over 25 mayors attended the Children, Health, and Human Services Committee (CHHS) meeting January 26. Presided over by Committee Chair Richmond (CA) Mayor Irma Anderson, the meeting focused on the topic of obesity and the role mayors can play in addressing the problem locally.

Caya Lewis, Deputy Staff Director for Health for the U.S. Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee, provided an overview of the Prevention of Childhood Obesity Act, introduced by Senator Edward M. Kennedy (MA). Dr. Bill Dietz, Director of the Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), followed with a presentation entitled, “The Obesity Epidemic: What’s a Poor Mayor to Do?” Dietz emphasized that solutions to the national obesity epidemic will come from the local level, as was the case in the successful national campaign against smoking. Mayors can make a difference by promoting physical activity and better nutrition in work site, school, and community settings. At the community level, they can build healthy communities in two key ways: by mobilizing communities, and enhancing the built environment to promote opportunities for physical activity and healthy eating.

Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett discussed the Mayors Fitness Challenge he recently launched with Tulsa Mayor Bill La Fortune. The challenge was launched after Men’s Health Magazine ranked Oklahoma City and Tulsa low on a list of 101 U.S. cities in terms of how healthy they were for men. The new initiative challenges individuals and the business community to improve the health of the community through increased fitness and improved nutrition. The initiative has a website, www.mayorsfitnesschallenge.com, which provides such information as local recreational opportunities and healthy eating. Cornett then introduced Anne Roberts, representing the Oklahoma Fit Kids coalition, a community partner involved in the Mayors Fitness Challenge. Roberts talked about the successes of the Coalition in lobbying for the passage of state bills that limit students access to junk food by mandating healthier food choices for school vending machines and requiring mandatory physical and health education in grade schools.

Next, Laredo Mayor Elizabeth Flores spoke about the commitment she has made to improve the health of her city’s children through new or improved indoor and outdoor recreational facilities and city health department programs for school children. Dr. Hector Gonzalez, Laredo Public Health Director, provided examples of several city programs, including the Nutrifit Children’s Summer Camp for 5-11 year-olds which encourages physical activity and provides nutrition education. Importantly, city'sponsored programs include an evaluation component and the city health department will be involved in the design of new parks.

Finally, Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell provided a brief overview of his efforts to improve his community’s health, including working on a ten-year plan to expand parks, founding a Healthy Nashville Leadership Council to assist him in his efforts to improve the health of residents, establishing the Nashville STEPS Program to encourage residents to take more walking steps each day, and undertaking a personal fitness challenge to walk through each of the city’s parks. Purcell noted that, as a result of these efforts, his city’s fitness ranking has risen in national surveys and Nashville has received favorable national media coverage for its fitness programs.

Discussion throughout the presentation of mayoral best practices was lively, with attending mayors asking numerous questions and offering information about their own best practices. Camden (NJ) Mayor Gwendolyn Faison shared with the group her concerns about the large population of young people in her city that have diabetes. Walnut Creek (CA) Mayor Kathy Hicks described a local initiative—the Walnut Creek Wellness Challenge—which encourages school children and seniors to walk for fitness. While Hicks participates in some of the walking events, she noted that, “As mayors, we are spread so thin.” She asked the group, “How do we provide ongoing leadership and sustain it when there’s only one of us?” Cornett offered one solution: “Through personal example, we need to be better physically fit ourselves.” Thornton (CO) Mayor Noel Busck told the group that the issue of wellness ranked number two on a list of pressing issues discussed at a regional retreat of 32 Colorado mayors. As a result, Busck has volunteered to serve on a mayoral taskforce that will examine ways to address wellness at a regional level.

For more information on the Mayors’ Healthy Cities Campaign, visit the website, www.usmayors.org/chhs.