Strategies and Solutions for My Community

Obesity is common, serious, and costly. Help take action in your community to combat the obesity epidemic by learning what early childhood education programs, hospitals, neighborhoods, schools, and worksites can do to help make the healthy choice the easy choice.

Early childhood education programs can:

• Help our youngest children eat healthier and move more by participating in the Let's Move Child Care Checklist Quiz.
  
  Sign up for Let's Move! Child Care and take the Checklist Quiz.
• Learn which states have policies about water, sugar drinks and screen time in the CDC's Children's Food Environmzent State Indicator Report, 2011.
  
  See Children's Food Environment State Indicator Report, 2011 [PDF - 762 Kb].

Hospitals can:

• Use CDC's Breastfeeding Report Card to better protect, promote and support breastfeeding mothers.
  
  See 2011 CDC Breastfeeding Report Card
• Participate in the Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care (mPINC) survey and use their results to improve maternity care practices.
  
  See CDC's mPINC Benchmark Report and State Reports and Health Care Breastfeeding Promotion & Support
• Partner with Baby-Friendly™ hospitals to learn how to improve maternity care and achieve the Baby-Friendly designation.
  
  See Baby-Friendly USA
• Learn what other hospitals are doing to promote maternity care practices related to breastfeeding.
  
  See CDC's DNPAO State Program Highlights: Maternity Care Practices [PDF - 134 Kb]
• Improve their environments to better support the health of their employees and embody the mission of their organization.
  
  See the Healthy Hospital Practice to Practice Series (P2P)

Neighborhoods can:

• Assess their retail food environment to better understand the current landscape and differences in accessibility to healthier foods.
  
  See Healthier Food Retail: Beginning the Assessment Process in Your State or Community [PDF - 522 Kb]
• Learn which states have policies that create access to places for physical activity in the CDC State Indicator Report on Physical Activity, 2010.
  
  See State Indicator Report on Physical Activity, 2010 [PDF - 1.48 Mb]
• Learn more about "complete streets" and how Michigan neighbors are working with coalitions and public health programs to complete their street.
  
  See Taking It to the (Complete) Streets: Michigan's Road to Fight Obesity [PDF - 654 Kb]

Schools can:

• Apply for a salad bar today to help students eat more fruits and vegetables.
  
  See Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools
• Ensure that the available food and beverage options are healthy and help youth eat food that meets dietary recommendations for fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and nonfat or low-fat dairy products.
  
  See Nutrition Standards for Foods in Schools
• Limit foods and drinks with added sugar, fat and salt that can be purchased outside the school lunch program.
  
  See Recommended Nutrition Standards for Foods Outside of School Meal Programs [PDF - 1.47 Mb]
• Use CDC's School Health Index (SHI), a self-assessment and planning tool, to improve their health and safety policies and programs.
  
  See School Health Index
• Create a Local School Wellness Policy to promote student health and reduce childhood obesity.
  
  See Local School Wellness Policy
• Increase the amount of time that students are being moderately to vigorously physically active during physical education classes.
  
  See Strategies to Improve the Quality of Physical Education [PDF - 598 Kb]

Worksites can:

• Find information, resources, and step-by-step toolkits to help improve the health of your employees.
  
  See CDC's Healthier Worksite Initiative
• Use the Worksite Walkability Audit Tool to learn how safe or attractive the walking routes are in your workplace.
  
  See Worksite Walkability
• Make healthier food available in cafeterias, vending, snack bars and other concessions.
  
  See Healthy and Sustainability Guidelines for Federal Concessions and Vending Operations
• Design effective worksite obesity prevention and control programs.
  
  See CDC's LEAN Works!
• Support breastfeeding in the workplace.
  
  See Breastfeeding Promotion & Support to find out how Health Care and Employment can support breastfeeding