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Physical education addresses the needs of the whole child. Effective physical education provides the activity kids need for a positive impact on their physical, mental, and emotional health. PE programs improve judgement, reduce stress, and increase self-esteem. Making sure all students are getting physical education is a critical part of keeping kids healthy.

Help us take a step toward ensuring that physical education is provided to all of our kids. Ask North Carolina’s education leaders to include PE on the state’s accountability plan.

Did you know that sugary drinks such as fruit drinks, sports drinks, sweetened waters and teas, energy drinks, and soda have been identified as the primary source of added sugars in American diets? Luckily, states and cities across the nation have begun to work aimed at making healthy drink alternatives, like water, milk, and 100% juice with no added sugars, more attractive and available. Join the Healthy Drinks Action Team to help stop surgary drinks from hooking our kids!

Thank you for supporting the Healthy Corner Store Initiative.

Access to healthy and affordable food is a challenge in some parts of our state - particularly for those that live in areas with limited access to affordable and healthy food stores.

In fact, 1.5 million North Carolinians do not have access to the foods they need to maintain a nutritious diet. The General Assembly just took a step toward addressing this issue by appropriating $250,000 for the creation of the Healthy Corner Store Initiative.
Please thank your legislator for supporting the Healthy Corner Store Initiative in the 2016 legislative session, and urge them to fully fund the Initiative in 2017.

An estimated 29.7 million people in America live in lower-income communities with limited supermarket access. Families living in places where it is hard to access healthy, affordable food often rely on corner stores for their food—stores that don’t typically carry the nutritious food they need. But things don’t have to be this way. Join the action team to help bring grocery stores to the areas that need them most!

For many Americans, it is difficult to be physically active in their neighborhoods because their streets lack the sidewalks, bike lanes, and crosswalks needed for safe travel. However, complete streets policies can help towns design streets that address the needs of people who walk, bike, and roll. Join the action team to help ensure every neighborhood has streets built to share!

Healthy food and lots of active play time are essential building blocks for every child. Early care and education programs are key to providing a healthy foundation, making consistent nutrition and physical activity standards important in these settings. Join our action team to help make these minimum, commonsense guidelines a reality for all kids!

Legislation to support the New Jersey Healthy Corner Stores Initiative is on Governor Christie’s desk. We need your help to urge Governor Christie sign it! This initiative will improve healthy food access and give economic support to underserved communities. Please take a moment to show your support for this important law.

Please thank your representative for supporting Healthy Food in Schools S 484. This bill takes the important step of updating SC nutrition standards to meet those set by the USDA and ensures the standards are regularly updated with the USDA guidelines and helps the community understand that schools complying to these standards by reporting on the school health improvement plans. Healthy kids are better students. Thank your representative for supporting what is best for students and that includes ensuring they have access to healthy foods that allow them to perform at their best.

On May 24th, Mayor Megan Barry signed an updated Complete Streets Executive Order that will make it easier to walk, bike, drive, and take transit across Davidson County. This work will certainly make a positive difference in the health of all Nashvillians. Join us in thanking the Mayor for working to improve the built environment to make Nashville more pedestrian and bicyclist friendly!

As lawmakers are faced with trying to fix a large budget problem, we need to remind them that there is a POP-ular way to generate revenue while also working to build a healthier Illinois by making the healthier beverages the easy choice for Illinoisans. Ask your lawmakers to support the Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) proposal as part of the negotiated budget.

Ask your representative to support Healthy Food in Schools S 484. This bill takes the important step of updating SC nutrition standards to meet those set by the USDA and ensures the standards are regularly updated with the USDA guidelines and helps the community understand that schools complying to these standards by reporting on the school health improvement plans. Healthy kids are better students. Ask your representative to support what is best for students and that includes ensuring they have access to healthy foods that allow them to perform at their best.

On May 19th, our region’s leaders will vote on a proposal that would dedicate $3.5 million to Safe Routes to School education programs and street projects around schools that need it most. Although this is one of the only sources of funding for our region that significantly invests in improvements for walking and biking, our kids’ safety is up against a hefty opponent: highway widening.

Take a stand with the For Every Kid Coalition to tell Metro to put our kids first by preserving dedicated funding for Safe Routes to School programs AND infrastructure!

North Carolina has a problem. A food access problem. 1.5 million North Carolinians do not have access to the foods they need to maintain a nutritious diet.

Access to healthy and affordable food is a challenge in some parts of our state - particularly for those that live in areas with limited access to affordable and healthy food stores.

We urge you to ask your legislator to support the Healthy Corner Store Initiative in the 2016 legislative session.

We are excited that you’ve taken the first step to join us in supporting health equity and healthy food access for tribal communities. Today, 80% of Native Americans suffer from obesity, Type-2 diabetes, and other diet-related diseases, making the need for change critical. Sign-up below and we will keep you informed about the ways you can help ensure the seeds of Native American health are nurtured.

Thanks for taking the first step to join our Healthy Food Choices in Public Places action team. We are successful in making places that kids live, play and learn healthier because of the efforts of advocates like you across the country.

Sign up below and we will send you not just more information on healthy food choice in public places, but we will let you know what is going on in your state and across the country as we work to make it easier for all kids to grow up at a healthy weight.

More and more people are walking and bicycling in cities and towns all over Minnesota and eighty-three percent of Minnesotans believe that future transportation projects should accommodate not only motorized vehicles, but also walkers and people on bicycles. Our state needs to invest in a transportation system that also provides safe and convenient infrastructure for these pedestrians and bicyclists, especially for the state’s youth and seniors. That is why a transportation funding package MUST including bicycling and walking.

The Assembly Appropriations Committee will be voting on April 4 on legislation to provide funding for a program that will promote access to healthy foods in communities that lack supermarkets.

The New Jersey Healthy Corner Store Initiative provides resources to corner stores and other small food retailers to help them address barriers to offering healthy food in their store. The initiative provides training, educational and marketing materials andequipment needed to stock and sell healthier products. Please take a moment to reach out to your elected officials to show your support for the legislation that will fund this cost-effective, economic development program.

Please ask your Representative to ask the Chairman of the House Education and Public Works Committee, Representative Rita Allison, to schedule a hearing on the Healthy Food in Schools Bill S484. This bill takes the important step of updating SC nutrition standards to meet those set by the USDA and ensures the standards are regularly updated with the USDA guidelines and helps the community understand that schools complying to these standards by reporting on the school health improvement plans.

Physical activity is important for our health, yet state lawmakers are considering a bill that cuts funding for bike lanes and sidewalks. Ask your lawmaker to vote NO on this legislation!

Nearly 70% of Tennesseans are at an increased risk for developing chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and certain cancers. This number could rise, if the legislation passes and limits the ways we can get physical activity. Studies show that people in walkable neighborhoods generally get about 35 to 45 more minutes of moderate intensity physical activity a week and are less likely to be at risk for these diseases than those in low-walkability neighborhoods.

We need your help! Ask your legislator to support funding for the Massachusetts Food Trust Program. Providing direct funding to the MA Food Trust will play a major role in addressing the need for better access to healthy food, and would promote better public health and increased economic vitality.

Going to the grocery store is something most of us take for granted, but for millions of Americans who live in areas where it is difficult to buy fresh food, that trip is anything but easy. Access to fresh produce, dairy and other staples is very tough at best, and simply not an option for far too many. Without access to healthy foods, a nutritious diet and good health are out of reach, and as a result, diet-related diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and stroke – even among children – are on the rise. We have a solution in the Commonwealth, funding the MA Food Trust Program.

You read that right: NY ranks worst in the country for pedestrian and bicycle safety. In fact, 27% of all traffic fatalities in the state are pedestrians and bicyclists. This week we have the opportunity to make a change!

The NY State Assembly proposed $20 million to fund “Complete Streets” infrastructure improvements to make it safer to walk and bike in communities all across our state. The Senate, however, did not include this funding. Both houses are meeting now to determine their final, combined budget proposal. This is the time to voice your support for Complete Streets funding!

The NYS Senate and Assembly Budget Resolutions were released on March 14, 2016. We are thrilled the Senate supports funding for the Healthy Food & Healthy Communities program, which will work to increase healthy food access in underserved communities throughout the state. We are disappointed the Assembly did not lend their support at this time.

The final state budget is being determined NOW, so this is our last chance to ensure a dedicated appropriation to support healthy food access for all New York families. Please take a moment to contact your state legislators and voice support for this program, which will help improve the health of New York children and families!

Today’s generation of children may be the first in over 200 years to live less healthy lives and have a shorter lifespan than their parents. That's why we're committed to positively changing the health of all Iowans, which is why a Safe Routes to School program is so important.

The Transportation, Infrastructure, and Capitals Appropriations Subcommittee is beginning to create the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Budget. Reach out to them and let them know Safe Routes to School matter to you and your family and ask them to have the DOT allocate $1.5M of their federal funds to the Safe Routes to School Program.

It only takes a few minutes to raise your voice for Minnesota kids. Join more than 300 advocates in St. Paul today for the Minnesotans for Healthy Kids Coalition Day at the Capitol and ask your lawmakers to support strengthening physical education and funding the Minnesota Safe Routes to School Program.

The benefits of physical education (PE) ring clear as a school bell. With daily PE, we can keep kids’ hearts healthy and their minds in gear to do their best at school. The fact is, active kids learn better. And the benefits don’t end there. Physical education has positive impacts on their physical, mental, and emotional health. Yet competing priorities are making effective PE programs less and less common. But with your help, we can change that. Complete the quick form below to join the PE Action Team!

Great news! House Bill 5180, legislation that will help increase access to fresh, healthy food in areas of critical need, has been scheduled for a hearing in the Appropriations Subcommittee of Agriculture and Rural Development!

House Bill 5180, legislation that will help increase access to fresh, healthy food in areas of critical need, has been scheduled for a hearing in the Appropriations Subcommittee of Agriculture and Rural Development. Too often, Michiganders buy and eat what is available, not what’s healthy. As a result, underserved communities in Michigan – both urban and rural – are often characterized by obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and other serious health problems.

This legislation would help support a public private partnership to give grants and low interest loans to grocery and corner stores and other important partners in the supply chain, in order to increase the public’s access to healthy foods. Examples of this might include funding for programs that would reduce the cost of local food production, help with distribution of fresh food to local stores, increase the number of retailers in areas of need, and other initiatives that would reduce the barriers to healthy food access.

Ask your lawmaker to support House Bill 5180!

North Carolina has a problem. A food access problem. 1.5 million North Carolinians do not have access to the foods they need to maintain a nutritious diet.

Access to healthy and affordable food is a challenge in some parts of our state - particularly for those that live in areas with limited access to affordable and healthy food stores.

We urge you to ask your legislator to support the Healthy Corner Store Initiative in the upcoming 2016 legislative session.

Help rid NH schools of junk food marketing and support parents’ efforts to teach children healthy eating habits and food choices.

Nearly one in three NH children are overweight or obese – putting them at risk as adults for developing heart disease. Government, schools, corporations and parents all have a role to play to address this pressing health issue. Senate Bill 304 seeks to make align the existing guidelines for foods and beverages sold in school with what is advertised and marketed to children in schools. Parents can’t be present to guide their children’s food choices during the school day. If the schools can’t sell the products, then there should be no marketing of those unhealthy products in schools either.

Please help protect our children by adding your voice! Today students are being enticed to eat and drink in posters and signs, branded educational materials, incentive coupons for academic achievement, score boards and other advertising of unhealthy products on school property.

Tell your Senator to help get junk food marketing out of schools!

Grocery store

Recently, Applebee's and IHOP made the decision to remove sugary drinks from their kids' menus. But the food items being marketed to kids at these restaurants are high in sodium, sugar and fat! Help us make sure the Council focuses on all restaurant menu items!

Are you commited to saving our kids from Junk Food Marketing? Then joing the JFM Action team! You will be the first to know about any actions related to preventing Junk Food Marketing to children. You'll have special JFM Action Team communications on ways to get involved and best of all? It's Free!

Thanks for taking action!

Take action It’s not too late to save PEP funding! We know PEP grants are working. Reports from the U.S. Department of Education have shown PEP’s success for schools across the country. Tell your legislator to stand up for children and to support Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP) grants.

Enter your zip code below and tell Congress to stand up for physical education.

Take action It’s not too late to save PEP funding! We know PEP grants are working. Reports from the U.S. Department of Education have shown PEP’s success for schools across the country. Tell your legislator to stand up for children and to support Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP) grants.

Enter your zip code below and tell Congress to stand up for physical education.

Thank Governor Inslee for Protecting Safe Routes to School! Please let your legislators know that you support policy options that make the healthy choice the easy choice by providing our children access to healthy food and safe places to be physically active.

Thank Governor Inslee for Protecting Safe Routes to School! As you may have heard, there is exciting news developing in the city of Chicago as it relates to obesity prevention. Earlier this month, the Chicago City Council held an informational hearing on a proposed sugary drinks tax as a way to raise revenue for the city. As you know from our work on passing such a proposal at the state level, a Chicago tax would be a win for the health of Chicagoans and a win for the budget woes the city is facing. Right now, Mayor Emanuel is working to put together his budget for the city, which we expect to see shortly, and we need your immediate action to ask that he include a sugary drinks tax in the budget.

Please take action TODAY and ask Mayor Emanuel to include a sugary drinks tax in his budget proposal.

It only takes a few minutes to make a lasting impact. Tell your governor to support the expansion of physical education in your state and to lead by example by taking the #Commit2Ten challenge and exercising ten minutes a day.

Take action! Kids across the country are spending hours each day in public facilities like their local library, park or playground and we want to make sure that each of these spaces is a healthy environment for children.

Right now, many public facilities lack access to basic healthy options like vending machines with healthy beverages and easy access to fruits and vegetables. We can fix this problem and make sure that all public spaces are healthy spaces, but we need your help.

Please urge the head of your state’s department of health to upgrade their purchasing practices by providing healthy options!

Thank Governor Inslee for Protecting Safe Routes to School! Washingtonians spoke for Safe Routes to School. Governor Inslee listened!

Thanks to the tireless support from advocates like you, this week Gov. Inslee announced his plan to retain hard-won funding for Safe Routes to School, and critical walking and biking connections, while moving forward on his agenda for reducing carbon emissions in a way that will not trigger the "poison pill" clause that is in the transportation package.

Contact Gov. Inslee today and thank him for protecting historic investments in Safe Routes to School, and critical biking and walking connections.

Take action Access to healthy and affordable food is a challenge in some parts of our state, especially for those who live in food deserts.

Tell your lawmakers you want H.B. 250 to be fully funded in the state budget.

Take action As Illinois’ budget crisis continues, advocates like you are making some noise in Springfield! As a result, the Healthy Eating, Active Living (HEAL) Act is under serious consideration! But we still need your help to make sure this sugary-drink tax is included in the final budget and that revenues generated by the HEAL Act are dedicated to making a healthier Illinois.

That is why today, Wednesday, July 29, 2015, we are holding a Day of Action, to generate as many messages into lawmakers’ offices as possible, making sure our voices are heard!

Please take action: Send a message to your legislators and the governor asking them to support the HEAL Act as part of the budget solution.

Let Deb Know How Much We Love her As I reflect back on these 10 years of Safe Routes to School, I want to say thank you to a true hero among us. Today I am asking you to take a moment to join me in sending our thanks to Deb Hubsmith.

Write a few words—a quote, a letter, a short note--whatever feels right to you. We’ve provided sample text below, but we hope you will tell her in your own words. Please click on the “select recipient” button under the picture of Deb to add your thank message.Then fill in your info and click submit. It will only take a minute and it will mean so much.

Deb Hubsmith has spent the better part of the last two decades fighting to create a safe and healthy environment for children, drivers and pedestrians. Let's shower Deb with our appreciation for making the word a better place.

Take action When the governor signed the transportation package last week, Washingtonians were told historic investments had been made in creating safe streets, new sidewalks and bike pathways for our school kids and communities. Now those investments are in jeopardy because of the governor's potential action on a low carbon fuel standard. There doesn't have to be a choice between safer and healthier communities and climate change.

Tell Governor Inslee to protect biking and walking safety investments so we can fulfill our promise to help every child grow up healthy, and to create safer streets and biking connections.

Take action Tell Your Senator to support Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP) grants.

Enter your zip code below and tell your Senator to stand up for physical education..

Don't Sugarcoat our Future Did you know that consumption of beverages with added sugar has increased 500 percent in the past 50 years? Those sweet drinks are part of a big problem: 62.5 percent of Connecticut adults and 15 percent of Connecticut youth are overweight or obese.

Initiatives designed to limit the consumption of beverages with added sugar can lead to healthier kids across the country, especially when revenue supports healthy living programs.

Obesity is costing Connecticut taxpayers and businesses millions of dollars a year, and with the budget still undecided it’s the right time for a tax on sugary drinks. We can offer a solution to legislators that will help raise necessary revenue and have a positive impact on our children’s future.

Make sure your voice is heard. Take action and let your legislators know Connecticut can’t afford to sugarcoat our children’s future.

Contact Your Legislators Today and Ask For Support of The Massachusetts Food Trust On May 21, the Massachusetts Senate adopted language that supports the Massachusetts Food Trust moving forward, allowing the Office of Business Development to expend funds and start implementing the program.

Now we need your help to ensure that the Budget Conference Committee includes the Senate language supporting the Food Trust Program. The budget will be finalized in a short period of time—so time is of the essence!

Please send this letter to your state representative and senator and ask them to weigh in with the Budget Conference Committee members and express support for the Massachusetts Food Trust Program as a way to invest in a system to increase access to healthy, affordable foods as well as jobs and economic development.

Take Action – More Safe Routes to School for Washington Washington state legislators are in the process of negotiating a 16-year transportation package. The package has implications for the health and safety of our kids.The latest House proposal includes a combined investment of $236 million for walking and biking projects, including additive funding for Safe Routes to School grants.

When children can safely walk or bike a mile to school, they can meet two-thirds of the daily recommended amount of exercise. Increased physical activity helps children achieve a healthy weight and cardiovascular fitness, as well as improved academic performance. Safe Routes to School projects make safely walking and biking to school possible for many communities.

Currently, only 1 in 4 Safe Routes projects are getting funded. By holding the line found in the House proposal, more eligible applications in more communities in need will receive funding. Ultimately that amounts to a healthier and safer Washington.

Tell your legislators today to maintain the level of Safe Routes, and bike and pedestrian project funding proposed by the House.

A Budget Solution for Springfield The deadline to find a budget solution in Springfield came and went. The legislature is at stalemate. While they work into the summer to find common ground on reducing spending and searching for new revenue, Illinoisans have already identified a popular way to tackle the problem.

According to a recent public opinion poll, 65 percent of Illinois voters support a proposal to enact a penny-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks and to use the proceeds to improve Illinoisans’ health. Please take a minute and ask your lawmakers and the governor to support this popular solution for keeping Illinois healthy.

Include the Healthy Food Small Retailer/Corner Store Act in the Senate Budget!
Access to healthy and affordable food is a challenge in some parts of our state, particularly for those who live in food desert zones. Tell your senator you want SB 296 to be included in the senate budget proposal.

You can help save Wisconsin's Complete Streets policy! Do you appreciate sidewalks and safe crosswalks? Like biking walking? You can help us save Wisconsin’s Complete Streets policy!

Did you know that Wisconsin’s Complete Streets policy will be taken off the books in Governor Scott Walker’s proposed state budget? If the legislature passes Governor Walker’s budget as is, Wisconsin would be the first state in the country to have such a policy eliminated.

Complete Streets accommodate users of all ages and abilities, regardless of whether they are driving a car, walking, using mass transit or riding a bicycle. Not only will improved infrastructure make it easier for people to get out and exercise, it makes our communities more attractive and desirable places to live and work. Tell your lawmakers not to remove the Complete Streets policy from the new state budget.

Take Action Today
Exercise is an important component to a healthy lifestyle, and a habit best formed at a young age. Creating safe routes to school helps children build physical activity into their everyday lives. And, when children are active, they tend to perform better in the classroom.

Safe Routes to School projects can also save lives. In 2009, approximately 23,000 children ages 5-15 were injured and more than 250 were killed while walking or bicycling in the United States. Research has shown that Safe Routes to School projects can reduce child pedestrian injuries by 44 percent.

Contact your state head of transportation today, and tell them that you support funding for Safe Routes to School projects in your community!

Walk the Walk for Food Access in OKC Being able to find affordable healthy foods is crucial in preventing heart disease and stroke, but in OKC finding these foods can be extremely difficult. Help increase access to healthy foods in our city by taking action now!

Include the Healthy Food Small Retailer/Corner Store Act in the State Budget!
Access to healthy and affordable food is a challenge in some parts of our state, particularly for those who live in food desert zones. Tell your lawmakers you want H.B. 250/S.B. 296 to be included in the state budget.

Ask Your Senator to Support Healthy Food in Schools S484 Ask your senator to support S. 484, the Healthy Food in Schools bill. This legislation takes the important step of updating South Carolina’s school nutrition standards to meet those set by the USDA. It also ensures the standards are regularly updated with the USDA guidelines, and helps the community understand that schools are complying with these standards by reporting on the school health improvement plans.

Healthy kids are better students. Ask your senator to support what is best for students— ensuring they have access to healthy foods that allow them to perform at their best.

Take Action Today - Email your Senators
More than one-quarter of all children’s traffic deaths happen when kids are walking or bicycling. Safe Routes to School programs, which have helped install sidewalks, crosswalks, lighting, and bike paths near thousands of schools around the country, have been shown to save lives and reduce injuries—this is why it is crucial that the U.S. Senate make them a top priority.

Please tell your senators to support and cosponsor S. 705, the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) Improvement Act, to ensure that Safe Routes to School, walking, and biking get the funding they need.

Take Action Today - Every Kid Deserves a Safe Route to School
Washington voters agree—programs that support biking and walking, like Safe Routes to School, are a smart investment for our state:
- HEALTH: When children can safely walk or bike a mile to school, they can meet two-thirds of the daily recommended amount of exercise. Increased physical activity helps children achieve a healthy weight and cardiovascular fitness, as well as improved academic performance.
- SAFETY: From 2000 to 2006, 30 percent of traffic-related deaths among children between ages 5 and 15 happened while walking or bicycling.
- BUDGET SAVINGS: Studies have found that healthcare costs associated with physical inactivity decrease by almost $3 for every $1 invested in safe pathways for people walking and biking.
- ENVIRONMENT: When more children bike or walk to school, more parents drive less, ultimately reducing congestion and improving air quality around schools.

A recent statewide poll showed 84 percent of Washington voters believe that funding for Safe Routes to School programs should be prioritized in the state transportation budget.

Contact your lawmakers today and tell them that you are part of the 84 percent of Washington state voters who support funding for Safe Routes to School projects.

Support Healthy Food Financing Sometimes the Fast Choice is the Only Choice.

Too many communities – and kids – lack access to a nearby grocery store that provides them with healthier food options. We have to do better for our children and for ourselves. Healthy food financing puts healthy foods and grocery stores in communities where options don’t exist. It’s a policy we can all support.

Currently, there is an effort underway in Ohio to establish a healthy food financing initiative. Seed money from the state of Ohio would be combined with private revenue sources to provide grants and loans for grocery stores and convenience stores. Ohio legislators are considering including this in the state budget, which is currently under consideration. However, to have a quality program, language should include:
- At least $10 million in the Ohio budget.
- Target underserved low- to moderate-income communities.
- Evaluate the health and economic impacts of the initiative.

Only with all of these elements can we know it made a difference!

Support the Healthy Food Small Retailer/Corner Store Act!
Access to healthy and affordable food is a challenge in some parts of our state, particularly for those who live in food desert zones. Tell your lawmakers you support HB 250/SB 296 to create a statewide Healthy Corner Store Initiative.

Take Action Today - Every Kid Deserves a Safe Route to School
The Washington state House of Representatives is currently working on their version of the state transportation revenue package. We need you.

Tell your Representative that you want them to prioritize funding for the Safe Routes to School and Bicycle and Pedestrian grant programs.

We believe it is vital that these programs be properly funded, at $30 million per year, so we can meet the needs of schools and communities in our state. Current funding levels allow only one in four Safe Routes to School grant applications to be funded.

Enter your zip code below to contact your representative!

Please take action and ask your legislators to support policies for healthier Minnesota kids Today is the very first Minnesotans for Healthy Kids Day at the Capitol where hundreds of volunteers will advocate policies to combat childhood obesity and fight for healthier Minnesota kids! If you can't make it to St. Paul today, you can still participate right from your keyboard!

Send an email that urges your elected officials to support three obesity-fighting policies: support funding for biking and walking in transportation projects across the state; ensure all Minnesota students are getting high-quality physical education; and fully fund the Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP), which helps communities implement cancer-fighting policies at the local level.

The Reality of School Fundraisers School fundraisers are no longer about parent-led bake sales. The reality is that these types of sales now make up a very small percentage of school-based fundraising. School-based fundraising has become a lucrative industry, with the majority of fundraiser sales featuring products from fundraising companies. In fact, the Association of Fundraising Distributors and Suppliers estimates that these companies help schools raise $1.4 billion per year.[i]

Ohio has been a leader school nutrition since passage of Senate Bill 210 back in 2010. Now, the Ohio Legislature is considering allowing junk food fundraisers during the school day. This would undermine parents' and schools' efforts to create consistent, healthy school environments and could compromise students’ health and ability to learn.

Write the legistature and tell them no junk food fundraisers in schools!

Thank Your Legislator(s) for Supporting Walking and Biking There are some great legislative champions for the creation of a statewide active transportation program here in Minnesota and recently there has been legislation introduced (SF 1376/HF 1645) that would establish a statewide active transportation program to support bicycle, pedestrian and other nonmotorized transportation activities. If funded, local communities would be able to apply for funding through this program to help complete walking and bicycling projects in their area. To build healthier communities and remain competitive in a regional and global economy, Minnesota must invest in a modern transportation system that includes real options for safe and convenient walking and bicycling. We have a great line up of bipartisan authors on both bills and your legislator(s) is one of them!

Please take a moment to thank your legislator(s) for being a champion on active transportation

Help Stop Efforts to Reduce the Soda Tax in Arkansas Arkansas legislators will soon consider Senate Bill 725, introduced by Senator Jake Files, a bill that will reduce the current tax on soft drink syrup. The funding collected from this tax supports critical Medicaid funding for the state of Arkansas.

A reduction in the tax collected and overall cost of producing sugar-sweetened beverages has the potential to result in increased consumption, especially among at-risk populations, as well as reduce key funding for health care.

Ask the Arkansas legislature to support the health of our youth by maintaining the current soft drink syrup tax. Contact your state Representative and Senator today!

Going to the grocery store is something many take for granted.

For those that live in food deserts-areas where it is difficult to buy fresh food—a trip to the grocery store is anything but easy.

Low-income neighborhoods have 50 percent fewer supermarkets than the wealthiest neighborhoods.

The NYS Healthy Food and Healthy Communities fund. Bringing healthy food to families. Creating jobs.

Today you can help ensure that the NYS Healthy Food and Healthy Communities fund gets the state investment it needs by contacting your elected officials and educating them on this critical program.

Over the past few weeks, PreventObesity.net Leaders and Supporters have been nominating Smart Snacks Sweethearts—people doing outstanding work to make sure that all snacks in schools are healthy ones.

These Sweethearts deserve to know that their dedication to our children's health doesn't go unnoticed. You can use the form below to thank all of the outstanding Sweethearts for their hard work and dedication to our children’s health.

Sugar Cubes We are excited to announce on February 19, Sen. Mattie Hunter and Rep. Robyn Gabel reintroduced the Healthy Eating Active + Living (HEAL) Act to help provide tools and resources for Illinois families to live healthier lives.

Thank you for your past support of this issue!

We will need your help again this legislative session to gain legislator support for the issue and work to improve the health of Illinoisans! Please ask your legislators to co-sponsor the HEAL Act by taking action.

Kid and Apple Connecticut is in the midst of a childhood obesity crisis. And we are taking steps to make sure we serve healthy foods at schools and teach good nutrition to our kids.

But at the same time food companies are allowed to market junk food at our schools. It doesn’t make sense and it’s time to make a change.

Take action now!

Act Now for the Future of Texas’ Health and Wealth Right now, Texas lawmakers are writing the budget that will fund state programs for the next two years. We need your help to ensure that Grocery Access Investment is part of that budget.

This investment would support business and create jobs. It also would bring grocery stores to the more than 3.4 million Texans living in communities where it is difficult to buy fresh and healthy food, help families be healthier and fight obesity, and ultimately drive down the costs associated with unhealthy living (1).

We support $10 million for Texas Grocery Access Investment, which will stimulate both the economic and the physical wellbeing of our state, allowing Texans to live more heart-healthy lives. Your message will go to members who sit on the committees that oversee funding for this type of program.

The hearings this week are among the first steps in the budget process. We encourage you to take action today and will keep you up to date throughout the process. Find out more about our campaign at www.CloserToMyGrocer.com.

Ask Governor Dayton to Invest in Minnesota’s Future by Funding Pedestrian and Bicycle Infrastructure Please tell Superintendent Spearman that you are disappointed in her stance on allowing unhealthy food into our schools and encourage her to adopt a phase-in to zero policy for fundraising exemptions. As South Carolina has the second highest childhood obesity rate in the country, it is unfortunate that the current policy is one of the weakest in the nation.

Healthy kids are better students. We need to keep the pressure on and let Superintendent Spearman know she should support what is best for students and that includes ensuring they have access to healthy foods that allow them to perform at their best.

Obesity is a problem is Michigan. We can stand together to fix that. Please send a message to your decision maker to tell them to keep schools healthy.

Take action

This past spring, Ohio’s Shared Use Bill, House Bill 290, unanimously passed the Ohio House. This bill is now slated to go before Ohio’s returning Senate and we need your support to get it across the finish line!

Please take action!

Companies' voluntary efforts to reduce unhealthy food marketing to kids have resulted in the first-ever declines in unhealthy food marketing to children. Still, kids are exposed to too much marketing for unhealthy foods and beverages! Join us in asking companies to do more to protect children from unhealthy food marketing.

Tell CFBAI to encourage their member companies to adopt recommendations to do more to protect kids from junk food marketing!

The 2015 Minnesota legislative session is well underway, and Governor Dayton is in the midst of putting the finishing touches on his budget proposal. We know transportation will be a big part of what the legislature works on this year and will likely be a significant part of the budget. At this critical moment, it is extremely important that we make sure Governor Dayton knows how important it is to include dedicated funding for pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure in his budget. That’s why we need your immediate action!

Please take a minute and urge Governor Dayton to include $50 million for pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure funding in his budget. We will continue to keep you updated on this issue as it moves through the many steps in the legislature.

Recently, the Oklahoma State Board of Education (BOE) voted to allow school districts up to thirty exemptions to healthy food options for school fundraisers per semester, with a maximum duration of fourteen days per exception. This could result in up to eight hundred and forty fundraiser exemptions at any given school site. If the proposed rules are approved, Oklahoma will have adopted one of the most lenient policies on school fundraiser exemptions in the nation. This could have negative effects on efforts to combat rising childhood obesity rates.

From now until January 9, 2015 at 4:30 pm, the Oklahoma State Department of Education will collect public comments on the proposed rule that will adopt the BOE’s decision. Adoption of this policy will undermine the strides schools in Oklahoma are making in serving healthy and appealing meals, and offering a greater variety of healthy snacks and beverages. Use the form below to submit a public comment and ask the State Board of Education to reconsider their decision on school fundraiser exemptions.

Our kids are at risk and we need your immediate help!
The Minneapolis School Board is proposing to decrease the number of physical education credits required for graduation to only one credit. Right now, Minneapolis high school students need just two credits in physical education to graduate, one of which can be tested out of by eligible students. It's already a pretty low bar—and if it gets any lower our kids will pay the price.

One December 9, the Minneapolis School Board will be voting on this issue and we need your immediate action to make some noise and ask that they vote NO on this proposal. Please send a message to the Minneapolis School Board and ask them to put our kids' health first!

Please contact the Office of Nutrition and tell them that you only support healthy or non-food fundraising in South Carolina’s schools.

When schools adopted the updated USDA Smart Snacks guidelines, many states opted to apply those same standards to all snack foods all the time, including on-campus fundraisers. The South Carolina Board of Education is taking public comments NOW on whether to provide exemptions to on-campus food-related fundraisers. Your voice is needed today to ensure that all food choices for our children during the school day are healthy choices.

Currently SC ranks 2nd in childhood obesity for ages 10-17. We know that education isn't easy. It takes a lot to master reading, writing, arithmetic and the skills that turn children into productive and successful adults. The last thing kids need is more junk food at school that will distract them from making healthy choices and from learning better.

Share the Texas State of Obesity 2014 Each year, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation releases their annual The State of Obesity report. For 11 years, this annual report aims to raise awareness about the seriousness and impact of the obesity epidemic, through in-depth research and analysis.

The American Heart Association encourages lawmakers to pass strong obesity prevention policies that will encourage healthier lifestyles and reduce obesity rates. Armed with this new data, will you help us tell lawmakers make obesity prevention a priority?

practice

Make every day a walk or bike to school day in Minnesota October is International Walk to School Month and today is International Walk or Bike to School Day. We know that healthy and active children do better in school and we know that children are more active when there are safer routes to and from school. That's why we are proud of the $1 million for Safe Routes to School infrastructure and the additional $250,000 for non-infrastructure uses we were able to secure last year in the legislature. But we know that there are still kids in Minnesota that don't have safe routes to school. Let's take this month to encourage our students to walk or bike to school and remind legislators that providing Safe Routes to School for all children is impossible without their help.

Sugar and Soda Let your Senator know that you want more opportunity for physical activity in Ohio’s communities—urge them to pass House Bill 290!

Sugar and Soda Please Share the State of Obesity report with your lawmakers

While it is encouraging obesity rates in Illinois are beginning to stabilize, adult obesity rates are nearly 30 percent and the focus must continue to remain on improving the environments and policies that shape the decisions we make about what we eat and how active we can be.

Say No to Unhealthy Fundraisers The South Carolina Board of Education is taking public comments on whether to exempt on-campus food-related fundraisers from having to meet the USDA's Smart Snacks nutrition guidelines. Please contact the Office of Nutrition and tell them that you only support healthy or non-food fundraising in South Carolina's schools.

When schools adopted the updated USDA Smart Snacks guidelines, many states opted to apply those same standards to all snack foods all the time, including on-campus fundraisers. South Carolina is taking public comments on providing exemptions. Your voice is needed today to ensure that all food choices for our children during the school day are healthy choices.

Apple The Georgia Board of Education voted on August 21st to allow 90 days of unhealthy snacks to be sold in schools during the day in the name of fundraising. These foods do not have to meet the USDA Smart Snacks nutrition guidelines. Sadly, this vote came AFTER you registered your opposition to the rule.

When schools adopted the updated USDA nutrition guidelines for healthy snacks, 30 states opted to apply those same standards to all snack foods all the time, including on-campus fundraisers. Georgia has now implemented one of the weakest school nutrition policies in the nation. Your voice is still needed to help address opportunities to bring better policies to Georgia’s school children that don’t prioritize revenue over health.

Urge the Board of Education to come back to the table to evaluate opportunities to improve the health and nutrition of Georgia’s children!

Fresh foods During the 2014 Legislative Session Eat Smart, Move More SC introduced legislation to extend the USDA Smart Snacks guidelines beyond the school day. Although, we were disappointed the bill did not move out of the Senate before the session ended, we gained broad bi-partisan support for the bill from the Senate Education Committee. Please take a few minutes to thank your Senator for supporting the Smart Snacks Bill and let them know that healthy food in schools is important to you. We encourage you to customize your comments.

Walking to School When the Minnesota legislative session ended, the Minnesota Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program came out with a victory! Because of your hard work and continued advocacy this session, we secured $1 million for SRTS infrastructure, like sidewalks and safer crossings, and another $250,000 for non-infrastructure uses, like training and SRTS planning. So that’s $1.25 million in new resources to make it safer for Minnesota kids to walk and bike to school! And now it is time to say thanks!

Take Action This week (May 19-23), Congress will be holding key votes that will determine if the progress we’ve made toward improving nutrition in schools will continue or be rolled back. 90% of schools have already stepped-up and are successfully providing schools lunches that meet the new nutrition standards, including more whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, and limiting sodium, saturated fat, and trans fat. Yet, some in Congress want to weaken, delay, and even stop the changes improving school meals and snacks. Speak-up today to help protect healthy foods in schools!

Walking to School The Minnesota legislature will adjourn in less than a week and there is still a lot left to get done. The bonding bill is one major piece of unfinished business and where the proposed funding for Safe Routes to School resides. Your lawmakers need to hear from you TODAY on the urgency of funding this very important program. Please ask your lawmakers to fund Safe Routes to School at $2 million in the bonding bill

Kid Walking to School Funding for Minnesota’s Safe Routes to School Program (SRTS) took another step forward in the Minnesota legislature when the Senate Capital Investment Committee released their version of this session’s bonding bill and included $2 million in infrastructure funding for SRTS. Please take a minute today to thank your Senator for including $2 million for Safe Routes to School in the Senate’s bonding bill.

Take Action If you can’t sell it, you shouldn’t be able to market it.

First Lady Michelle Obama recently unveiled proposed guidelines to eliminate junk food marketing in schools. Advertising will be limited for products that are not allowed to be sold in schools under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Smart Snacks in School Guidelines.

Banning the marketing of unhealthy food and drinks will provide a boost to parents who work hard to instill healthy habits in their kids. It also will create a healthier food environment in schools across the country.

The USDA is currently accepting comments on the proposal, and you only have until April 28 to weigh in! Take action NOW and tell the USDA you support the proposal.

Help Kids Live Longer and Healthier Childhood obesity threatens the health of our young people and their future potential. Today, more than 23 million children and adolescents in the United States—nearly one in three young people—are either obese or overweight, putting them at higher risk for serious, even life-threatening health problems.

If we don’t reverse the epidemic, the current generation of young people could be the first in U.S. history to live sicker and die younger than their parents’ generation.

For real change to happen, we need to change the root causes of childhood obesity. It's going to take a movement to change schools, to change communities, and to change national policies.

There’s hope. Join the national PreventObesity.net network of parents, schools, leaders, activists, and volunteers committed to ending childhood obesity.

With your help, we can bring together the people needed to turn this epidemic around and improve the health of our children, families and communities.

Together, we’ll help raise awareness about the impact of childhood obesity – and change our culture and our public policy to do something about it. Join the movement. Pledge to help fight childhood obesity today!

Take Action Today Kids across the country are back at school. Studies show that kids who walk or bike to school increase their opportunity to get the physical activity they need each day to stay healthy.

But they can’t do so if the streets in their neighborhood are unsafe for pedestrians and bicyclists to travel on. It’s up to YOU to make streets across the country safer for our kids!

Please ask new Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx and the head of your state’s Department of Transportation to support and fund Safe Routes to School programs.

Let’s keep the progress going! Join PreventObesity.net and help create a healthier future for our nation’s young people.

Roughly 40 percent of students buy a snack at school each day. Even if students eat a healthy lunch, research shows they often still consume excess calories from side dishes their cafeteria might serve, such as french fries.

Right now, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is considering updated nutritional guidelines that would make sure schools sell healthy snacks and drinks to students. But we only have until April 9 to weigh in!

Tell the USDA you support these important guidelines.

If they can do it in the House of Mouse, surely the company that brought you Bikini Bottom’s most famous resident can do the same! The Walt Disney Company plans to implement nutrition standards that align with federal guidelines for foods marketed to kids on its networks, websites and other media outlets.

Now it’s time for the No. 1 entertainment brand for children to step up to the plate, too.

Tell Nickelodeon to follow Disney’s lead and set strong nutritional guidelines for the foods and beverages advertised to children via its media outlets.

Obesity rates could rise to at least 44 percent in every state by 2030, causing cases of type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke to soar. Fortunately, the future is not set — if we lower the average body mass index (BMI) by just 5 percent in each state by 2030, millions of Americans will be spared major health problems and billions of dollars will be saved.

But we need to take action NOW. Tell your governor to work toward a healthier future today!

Thank Disney Today The Walt Disney Company recently announced that it will apply nutritional standards to foods and beverages advertised to children through its television, radio and online outlets. This is a welcome move, as Disney is the first major media company to announce such a comprehensive marketing policy.

The food industry spends $2 billion every year marketing predominantly unhealthy food and beverages to kids. By setting such comprehensive marketing standards, Disney is helping protect our kids from these ads and setting an example for what other media companies could do.

Take action and thank Disney for doing the right thing for kids' health.

Sign the Petition Today Improving the nutritional quality of snacks and drinks can help to reduce children’s risk for obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and other chronic illnesses — a critical goal at a time when nearly one in three kids in the United States is overweight or obese. Thousands of schools across the country already have proved that students will buy healthier snacks and beverages. The U.S. Department of Agriculture should update nutrition standards to help ALL schools serve healthy snacks. Sign the petition below to raise your voice for our kids!

The new year is a time when we make resolutions to improve our lives.

People often resolve to eat healthy and hit the gym after the holidays. But for many American families, sheer willpower isn’t enough. These kids and their families face an uphill battle to get healthy.

That’s why this year the team at PreventObesity.net is resolving to re-energize our efforts to build a network of Leaders and Supporters dedicated to reversing childhood obesity by 2015.

Now we want to hear from you.

How are you resolving to reverse childhood obesity in 2012? Tell us in the box below, and we’ll share our favorites with the PreventObesity.net community.

PreventObesity.net is a project of the American Heart Association
in support of the movement to prevent childhood obesity.
The American Heart Association does not necessarily share the
views of individuals, organizations, or government agencies in
our network, but we work to highlight and share the work being
done across the network to facilitate collaboration and
participation within the movement.