Leadership Council Meeting Minutes 5.9.11
Attendees: Adrienne Yancey, Cheryl Moder, Chris Searles, Christine Wood, Deirdre Kleske, Jamie
Moody, JuliAnna Arnett, Jill Monroe, John Lucero Criswell, Katie Judd, Katie Shultz, Kristin Garrett, Leslie
Linton, Melanie Cohn, Naomi Butler, Paige Metz, Paula Ingrum, Phyllis Hartigan, Randall Marks, Sandra
Parkington, Shreya Sasaki, Tracy Delaney, Wilma Wooten
Guests: Sharon Hillidge (Chula Vista Elementary School District); Lindsey Cox (County of San Diego
HHSA)
Welcome/Introductions
I.
Chula Vista BMI Measurements
 Sharon Hillidge of Chula Vista Elementary School District presented the results of a district-wide
height and weight measurement project, conducted with approximately 25,000 children K-6th
grade, at CVESD’s 44 elementary schools. CVESD is one of the largest elementary school district
in the nation.
 This is the first school district in the region to collect BMI data for nearly all of the students, of
all ages. The Fitness Gram test collects height and weight measurements for 5th, 7th, and 9th
grade students in each of the state’s school districts. However, the results of this test do not
come until the end of the year, and they do not provide data for all grade levels.
 Sharon clarified some information on the purpose and use of the data. The goal of the project is
to obtain overall surveillance data, but this is not an individual screening tool (i.e. no individual
data will be provided to schools or parents). The district will be able to get a picture of what the
numbers look like for students in certain grades and will be able to compare by gender, by
school and by ethnicity. This data has the potential to be very valuable when applying for grants,
and to use as baseline data in a possible large grant that may begin next year. Permission forms
were sent home with parents of all students, letting them know about the project and giving
them an opportunity to opt out so that their child’s measurements would not be among those
taken.
 The approach that CVESD has developed for quickly and effectively recording all school sites’
height and weight data is a model that can hopefully be adopted by other districts.
 The BMI information was aggregated and organized through a software program called Eschool
Plus Medical.
 Affluent schools in the district had the most opt-outs, but the results show that the issues of
obesity and overweight are prevalent across the community, regardless of the overall
socioeconomic status of the particular neighborhood. Only about 1,000 people officially signed
the “opt-out” form. The rest were absent or found the information unclear. Still did 25,000 BMI
measurements out of the 28,000.
 Clerks that took measurements have done an excellent job not disclosing information.
 Results show that every 1 out of 2 girls is overweight by 6th grade. 1 out of 4 is obese. All sixth
grade boys are overweight based on the median number. These boys are gaining weight the
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fastest Some think only West Chula Vista has an obesity problem; this data shows that all of
Chula Vista has this problem.
Sharon presented a bunch of different maps, conveying the BMI data by region, by gender, by
age, etc. She said that the team working on this at CVESD is starting to do overlay maps of the
data as well.
The study has raised questions such as whether or not we understand the relationship between
health and learning.
The superintendent of CVESD is working with district staff and faculty to ensure that physical
education is protected somehow, despite budget cuts. Other districts are cutting everything in
after-school programs.
Partners within and outside of the district are looking for language for wellness policy to
monitor the food being brought into schools from the outside. There has been pushback from
people running fundraisers, who do not want to be limited in what they can offer as a
fundraising source. Chula Vista does not want revenue to pour in at the cost of its students’
health.
Parent champions have emerged as a result of this study. They have asked for presentations on
ideas and solutions to help push change in schools.
Using a dashboard to hold principals at a higher accountability for BMI measurements as well as
test scores. Sharon also said that the superintendent is looking for evaluation tools for this.
Supervisor Cox was at their media event for the Healthy Communities Campaign; Chula Vista is
one of the communities funded through this grant. He is engaged in helping the school district
to present the data in a way that keeps it relevant.
The next steps involve analyzing data by gender, ethnicity, and even comparing the data to 2010
Census data.
Also going to implement a plan (dependent on funding) to take BMI measurements every other
year.
II. Domain/CPPW Updates
Group
 Government Domain Updates
Tracy
o Tracy talked about the Regional Transportation Plan, a series of efforts aimed at
adoption of a public health policy that supports access to active and public
transportation. This is a work plan of CPPW, and major stakeholders involved include
County of San Diego HHSA, CalTrans and SANDAG. Currently, they are looking at
partnering with Los Angeles County. Healthy Works (CPPW) has helped facilitate
networking with other communities being funded through this grant.
o Lindsey Cox of HHSA reported on an active transportation and Safe Routes to School
(SRTS) workshop that was recently held in Los Angeles, which Government domain
partners attended. A broad range of agencies were represented, including Orange
County Transportation Authority, Southern California Association of Governments
(SCAGS), Metro transit services, Cal Trans, Riverside Public Health Department, and LA
County Public Health Department. Lindsey said that the discussion was focused on how
to strategize for SRTS at a regional level, how to choose schools, etc.
 Community Domain Updates
Melanie Cohn
o Melanie reported on the Youth Engagement and Action for Health (YEAH!) projects that
have cropped up over the past few months. Because the COI and SDSU applied for
funding to evaluate YEAH! projects, many of these efforts will be followed and
evaluated.
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YEAH! groups that have been established via SDSU graduate students in the Childhood
Obesity Practicum Course have been based at San Ysidro Middle School and High
School. San Ysidro High School students have already been successful in getting Food
Services to alter the breakfast menu, replacing flour tortillas with whole wheat, among
the changes. The SDSU students will make their final presentations tonight. More
updates about the SDSU YEAH! projects will be available next month.
o Cal State San Marcos nursing students have worked with Mission Hills High School and
San Marcos Elementary School on YEAH! efforts. This connection was made through
Ashley Cassat, San Marcos Unified’s wellness coordinator. This is in conjunction with
Healthy Works. An example of an activity in this community--CSUSM students
conducted a blood glucose screening on SMES 5th graders.
o Lincoln High School and the Youth Health Council are also participating in the YEAH!
program. Students are aware of health issues and have expressed interest in advocating
for different environmental improvements within the school, such as installation of
salad bars. Gary Petill asked the students to set up regular meetings with him to talk
about school menus.
o 2 projects with the Navy CYN- one at the National City location, and one in Linda Vista.
Media Domain Updates
Sandra Parkington
o Sandra talked about recognition awards. She said there is a need for more domain
champions to volunteer names and a process that makes it easier to get these names.
o The Media domain will discuss a potential process at their June meeting.
CPPW Updates
o Tracy and Naomi reported that San Diego had its final CDC site visit 2 weeks ago. The
administrators looked at different interventions underway as a result of the funding.
They observed Breakfast in the Classroom, the Summer Meal Program, etc.
Stakeholders were able to see the processes involved in making these programs
successful.
o There was some discussion on reporting and evaluation methods during the site visit.
o San Diego County had its 1 year anniversary for the grant last month.
RLA Update
o The first Resident Leadership Academy started on April 12th and goes through June 29, 2011.
o RLA sessions are every Wednesday from 6-8pm at the HHSA North Coastal Offices.
o Sessions 1-4 have recently been completed; the group is engaged and interested (there are
about 15 residents in the first RLA).
o The RLA team is photo and video documenting the process for evaluation purposes and
getting feedback from the participants on how to improve the training.
o Some areas that are already showing significant interest from the residents as potential
CIP/Action Plans and residents have started to gather photo documentation of the areas of
concern.
Regional Garden Education Centers
o Cheryl reported that a media kick off will take place in National City at Olivewood
Gardens (one of the selected sites) on Monday, May 16th at 11:30 a.m. Wilma and
Cheryl will speak.
Legislative Update
Melanie Cohn
Melanie talked about the Legislative Breakfast at 211 San Diego, which will focus on anti-hunger
legislation as related to CalFresh benefits and more. Partnering organizations include COI/CHIP,
Catholic Charities, Jewish Family Services, 211 San Diego, San Diego Hunger Coalition, North
County Community Services, 1 in 7 Hunger Initiative, Donate Don’t Dump, Interfaith Community
Services, and Feeding America San Diego.
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Announcements
Group
Jamie Moody announced that she attended the “Trails Planning Workshop,” which aims to
increase the use of trails and to improve trail access.
Paige Metz announced that she and her husband will co-host a Gala at Rady Children’s Hospital
in June. Please contact her if you or any of your contacts are interested in purchasing a ticket.
All proceeds will go to Rady Children’s Hospital.
Cheryl announced that the motion to implement Breakfast in the Classroom has passed at
Lemon Grove School District.
Next Meeting: Monday, June 13, 2011, 11:00am-1:00pm
PLEASE NOTE THAT STARTING WITH THE JUNE MEETING, THE LEADERSHIP COUNCIL WILL CONVENE
AT COMMUNITY HEALTH IMPROVEMENT PARTNERS, LOCATED AT 9370 CHESAPEAKE DRIVE, SUITE
220, SAN DIEGO, CA 92123