DE HEAL
Nutrition, Physical Activity, &
Obesity Prevention Plan
2010-2014
What Needs To Be Done?
Built Environment & Policy
Setting
• Environmental & policy approaches can benefit all
people rather than changing behavior one person
at a time.
• Our surroundings either enable or hinder our
ability & decision to engage in healthier lifestyles.
• Strategies include providing access to facilities
& programs not currently available & supporting
social environments that favor such activities.
• Policies help create supportive environments &
have direct effects on behavior by providing the
basis for educational & behavioral change.
Complete Streets Act of 2009
• Building complete streets will help address some of the
most pressing issues facing our country today – climate
change, obesity epidemic, air quality, safety, congestion
& many more by giving people transportation options &
reducing reliance on cars.
• Requires state & local transportation planners to
consider the needs of all users – bicyclists, pedestrians,
motorists bus riders, when designing transportation
facilities funded with federal dollars.
Delaware Department of Transportation
Sample Healthy Community Initiatives
1. Walkable Communities Workshops - interactive
community workshop designed to bring together key
stakeholders to focus on issues related to walkability.
*Wilmington Area Planning Council, Jewish Family
Services, Brandywine Senior Center/Claymont
Community Center
2. Walkable Community Assessments per UD IPA for Bridgeville, Dover, Ocean View, Elsmere, and
Townsend, DE
Built Environment and Policy
Setting
Goal #1
Develop communities where all people
have opportunities and the motivation
to lead safer and healthier lives.
Challenges
• Built environment & existing policies that do not
support the overall health of the community
• Community buy-in & engagement
• Shared vision & building consensus between all
members of the community: residents, business
owners, stakeholders…
Opportunities
• Develop/revitalize communities that are healthy &
sustainable places for all
• Collaboration of diverse partners, stakeholders &
residents
• Leveraging of limited resources
• Sustainability
Call to Action
Where do we go from here?
How can you help with this effort?
Charting A Path Forward…
Objective 1
By 2011, conduct gap analysis of healthy community
resources (opportunities for active transportation,
recreation & access to healthy eating) for each county
that will be used in addressing planning efforts and
comprehensive plans for each county and municipality.
Call To Action
Join an Ad Hoc committee to examine comprehensive
plans for healthy community resources.
Objective 2
By 2014, all counties & municipalities due for an update
of their comprehensive plans should adopt at least one
model policy into regulation.
Call to Action
Join an Ad Hoc committee to develop model policies
and incentive programs for counties and municipalities.
Objective 3
By 2014, create a system of assistance to municipalities
and applicants for the implementation of
recommendations resulting from the Preliminary Land
Use Service (PLUS) application process.
Call to Action
Join an Ad Hoc committee to develop a system of
assistance for implementing recommendations per the
PLUS review process.
Question
Why get involved?
What motivates you to take action?
Michelle: “I want to lead by example. I want to be
able to play and engage in physical activity with my
children. I want to make it easier for my children to
lead a healthy lifestyle.”
Kendall: “I don't want to lose having a sense of
community.”
•
Christine: “Since joining the Built Environment
Team at NHPS in February, I have learned so
much about the importance of community design
and how it can promote active living for Delaware
residents and create a healthier world.”
Dana: “I care deeply about children and their
families. Other than school, children spend most
of their waking hours at home in their community,
and they should have the opportunity to play,
exercise, and be kids where they live.”
•
Marcia: “Communities need to build consensus to
support active living initiatives. Strategic
partnerships are needed to work towards built
infrastructure improvements, develop public
policies, provide healthy eating opportunities, and
promote physical activities through recreation
programming.”
Eric: “The health cost of obesity in the United States
is as high as $147 billion annually, bending the
curve of health care growth in the wrong direction.
Research has demonstrated that people with access
to trails are much more likely to be physically
active. Delaware’s parks, trails, and greenways
promote active living and should be safe, linked to
destinations of interest, and very accessible.”
Greg: “One day in the near future I want to be
able to see the children who live in my
neighborhood have the ability to walk, via a
Safe Route to School, to their elementary
school which is less than 5 minutes from their
front-door. This is just one of the many reasons
I am involved with this Forum.”
Julia: “We have a right to accessible recreation
opportunities. We have a right to live in places
that have these types of communities.
Our communities need to be inclusive of people
of all abilities.”
Patti: “I’m fortunate to live in a neighborhood
with sidewalks, two parks and connectivity with
a shopping center. I can walk to the park or to
buy groceries. I realize this isn’t what many
Delaware residents experience. Wouldn’t it be
wonderful if more of our communities were
walkable and made it possible for people to
incorporate physical activity into their daily
routines? I think so. That’s why I helped plan
this forum.”
Marina: “I feel passionate about this. I envision a
day when Delaware's residents can easily
incorporate a healthy level of physical activity
into their daily routines without having to think
twice about it, a day when neighborhoods are
bustling with activity – people are out and about
interacting, walking, biking and playing, kids are
outside playing with their friends and neighbors
instead of sitting inside all alone and watching
TV.”
Chris: “Though I’ve lived in other States, I'm a native
Delawarean & a long-term resident of my community.
I am struck by the many folks in my neighborhood who do
not share a sense of community or engage in healthy
lifestyles due in part to a built environment that lacks safe,
accessible & aesthetic options.
I want to help bring positive change to my community &
leave this as a legacy for my family & friends & future
generations. I am committed to making my community a
place I love & am proud to call home.”
Susan: “Our state, our communities, can become
cutting-edge promoting community design that is
both healthy for people and the environment.
Not choosing to grow healthily impacts us socially,
culturally, and economically.
Do we act now or do we wait? “
For More Information
Michelle Eichinger
Delaware Division of Public Health
(302) 744-1011
michelle.eichinger@state.de.us