By Patricia Carter
June 29, 2009

Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett led the annual Healthy Cities workshop, which focused on the epidemic of child and adult obesity facing our citizenry. The session was an opportunity for mayors to learn from best practices and identify resources to undertake wellness programs.

Cornett started the session by acknowledging that much has been learned about obesity in the last few years but the challenge that faces communities is a culture change. According to Cornett, "Changing the culture of a community is never easy..." but it is important when it comes to helping citizens lose weight through healthy eating and active living.

Cornett explained that his priorities as mayor have been jobs and education. "I think there is a direct connection between being able to create job s in your city and having a fit community" said Cornett. When industry considers locating in a city and sees a high obesity rate may lead them to concern over health care costs and absenteeism. Cornett has worked successfully with local restaurants to create a "Mayors Choice" on many local menus and reports that the menu item is now a very popular choice at lunchtime.

Columbia (MO) Mayor Darwin Hindman presented on building a healthy, more active, city by design. Hindman pointed out that in many cases, "People have developed lifestyles that simply don't involve activity." Hindman has helped to change the culture of inactivity in his city by building an extensive network of trails and bicycle paths and by serving as an example of good behavior. It is not uncommon to see the mayor biking to many of his meetings in Columbia.

The more than 100 miles of new bikeways, pedways and sidewalks in Columbia allow people to rely less on cars. The five-year project, called GetAbout Columbia, includes funds to develop a Web site and online bike maps, and conduct special events and trainings. Funding for these and other active living projects in Columbia comes from a variety of sources, including city sales taxes, private foundations and federal government grants. Columbia earmarks funds from a five-year renewable sales tax for improvements to its sidewalk and trail system, and it has received a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) grant through the Foundation's Active Living by Design national program.

James Weill, President of the Food Research and Action Center, provided an overview federal nutrition programs, specifically on the nutrition provisions of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) and the upcoming Childhood Nutrition Reauthorization. Weill noted that ARRA provides an average of 13.4 percent increase in food stamp benefits for families and boosting benefits is expected to help families in difficult economic times. According to Weill, dollar-for-dollar food stamps are the one of the most stimulus program the government has, putting money directly into the economy immediately with a multiplier effect for local economies in terms of jobs, etc. The Childhood Nutrition Reauthorization provides an opportunity to increase the numbers of children who get access to healthy school breakfast, school lunch and summer food. Reauthorization may be pushed back to next year, due to the health care reform, but many hearings are already taking place and a formal bill is expected to be introduced in the fall.

Concluding the session, Kathryn Bertram, Communications Director for Leadership for Healthy Communities (LHC), a national program of RWJF, spoke about two resource documents that her organization has developed to assist policy makers seeking to build and maintain healthy cities. The two documents are:

• the Action Strategies Toolkit. This is a collection of current best approaches that have been identified, evaluated and selected by LHC. Most of the policy options were reviewed based on a scan of more than 100 research articles that linked specific policy actions to positive outcomes in healthy eating and physical activity behaviors, with a focus on research in vulnerable communities.

• a policy brief entitled Supporting Healthy Communities Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The brief discusses how recovery act funds can be used to increase opportunities for physical activity and access to healthy foods in your community.

To learn more, join the Mayors' Healthy Cities Campaign by sending e-mail to Patricia Carter at PCarter@usmayors.org. Members of the campaign receive regular e-news letters on obesity related issues and are eligible for technical assistance.