Events

Winterfit 2009

Portland, February 6-14, 2009

Winterfit originated by former Mayor Ed Suslovic’s Mayor’s Health Initiative. Ed partnered with Let’s Go! and Healthy Portland to convene a community group which has been working together since Spring with a goal of getting people outdoors, active and excited about winter. In group discussions, the focus was on ways to address the growing obesity epidemic and the need to keep families active all year round. With the long winters in Maine, the group felt a need to promote opportunities to be active and healthy in Portland and throughout Maine.

In Portland, there are numerous free or low-cost opportunities for physical activity in the winter, which are great chances to spend time with family, and get to know neighbors. Activities like sledding, building a snowman, walking through the snow, and even shoveling are great ways to spend an afternoon in the winter and can bring a family or neighborhood together!

Winterfit is one of the three major parts of Portland’s WinteRush Outdoor Festival.

Let’s Go! and the Youth Advisory Committee are teaming up with Healthy Portland, a project of the City of Portland Public Health Division, Health and Human Services Dept. and Portland Public Schools to provide various outdoor activities at City Hall Plaza. The activities will run from 11:00 AM-3:00 PM on Saturday, February 7th and Saturday, February 14th.

Thanks to all that have been so dedicated to this project from the start—including WinterKids, Portland Recreation, Portland Public Schools, Portland Trails, SkiMaine, Maine Winter Sports Center, Delorme and more.

Let’s Go! Receives PSA Award

The Let's Go! program was the 2008 recipient of Maine Public Health Association’s Program Recognition Award. The association’s goal of this award is to increase the visibility of public health initiatives in Maine, to promote adoption of effective public health programs, and to provide recognition to organizations involved in successful collaborative public health initiatives.

Let’s Go! received the award at Maine Public Health Association’s annual meeting on November 3 at the Augusta Civic Center.

Maine Association of Broadcasters recognized WGME with a second place award in the television spot category for “Let’s Go! Winter” produced by John Schrank, Matt Perry, and Kerry Corcoran. Check out the winning PSA

School Highlights

5-2-1-0 Goes to School

Forty-four schools (31 elementary schools and 13 middle/high schools) in the Greater Portland Region are actively implementing 5-2-1-0 Goes to School. This represents a two-fold increase from last year. Each school is customizing their approach, finding out what works for them, and working towards creating healthy environments for their students. Almost all of the schools have received a 5-2-1-0 Goes to School toolkit which is designed to enhance implementation of the 5-2-1-0 message. This entire toolkit is available online for free for anyone to download and utilize.

Most recently, Hall School in Portland created a ‘Redy Path’ for students to use during their daily lunch walk. The path consists of more than 90 spray-painted Redy’s along a pavement path. The Redy’s designate the boundaries creating a safe and clearly marked trail. Other successes include two middle schools now using the electronic game Dance Dance Revolution as a reward for good behavior instead of pizza parties, and elementary schools working on school-wide celebration guidelines, snack guidelines, more activity during the school day, and infusing the environment with 5-2-1-0. For more information about specific school interventions, visit featured schools . For more general information on Let’s Go!/5-2-1-0 Goes to School, contact Heidi Kessler at 662-3393 or hkessler@unitedwaygp.com.

After School Highlights

H.E.A.T. (Healthy Eating Active Time) CLUB TRAINING

After a successful summer pilot, Let’s Go! will be offering a H.E.A.T. Club Training on Friday, January 16th from 9:30 – 11:30 AM for staff of after- school programs and other interested individuals. The H.E.A.T. Club Curriculum, which stands for Healthy Eating Active Time, was developed as part of the Shape Up Somerville: Eat Smart. Play Hard.™ project of Tufts University. It includes hands-on activities to use with elementary school children in after-school programs in order to improve eating habits and increase physical activity levels. If you are interested in learning more about H.E.A.T. Club or are interested in getting trained, please contact Emily Walters at waltee@mmc.org or 662-5685.

School Nutrition

Highlights from Maine Harvest Lunch

From dining on items like Maine apples, Wolfe’s Neck Farm burgers and garden-fresh vegetables to participating in activities like shucking corn, visiting local farms and dedicating a school garden, the youth in our Let’s Go! communities received the full Maine Harvest Lunch experience this past September! Congratulations to our devoted group of School Nutrition Directors who made this event come alive!

Students in Freeport fill up their bags with delicious local foods.	Scarborough students lend a hand in shucking BAGS of fresh corn

A great way to recognize our local supporters	The BEAUTIFUL garden in Yarmouth

Child Care Highlights

5-2-1-0 Goes to Child Care Pilot Project

Let’s Go! is gearing up to launch a pilot project called 5-2-1-0 Goes to Child Care. The pilot will run for 5 months, January to June 2009, in 6-10 child care facilities in the Let’s Go! area. This pilot will provide a means to test materials, get feedback from child care providers and the families they serve. In addition, the five-month pilot will help acquaint Let’s Go! with the child care network of providers, their typical operating norms and challenges or barriers they face in providing healthy options for their children. If you are interested in learning more about 5-2-1-0 Goes to Child Care, please contact Emily Walters at waltee@mmc.org or 662-5685.

Healthcare Highlights

Conference on Sustainability Practices was a Hit

On November 5th, the Harraseeket Inn, Freeport was the location for an innovative, first of its kind conference in Maine focused exclusively on practical ways to promote healthier, sustainable solutions for both school and healthcare food service programs. These programs are looked to as leaders in the efforts to promote healthier food purchasing, production, and marketing.

Local and national speakers offered attendees information on various topics such as going green, buying local, composting, recycling and Let’s Go! work with school nutrition directors. Many presenters shared their real-world experience of implementing many of the topics above. A vendor fair showcased products that had been hand-selected for their commitment to sustainability and healthy practices. Participants networked with colleagues – brainstorming ways to collaborate. They felt confident in implementing some of the strategies they learned about and were eager to learn more about formalizing a relationship with local producers.

The conference was convened by MaineHealth and Let’s Go! Platinum level sponsors included Hannaford, The Guiding Stars Licensing Company and US Foodservice. Silver level sponsors were New England Coffee and Pinnacle Food Sales and Marketing.

To learn more about the conference, download conference materials, and/or see photos of the event click here.

Vendor Fair	Mike Sabo, Southern Maine Medical Center

Workplace

Stayed tuned for more news about the web-based Let’s Go! Takes 5-2-1-0 to Work toolkit scheduled to be online for free download in early 2009!

Research Highlights

A study in the November issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior suggests that limiting the availability of sugar-sweetened beverages in schools does not necessarily reduce consumption among students. Read more

A study presented at a meeting of the American Heart Association found that obese children as young as age 10 had arteries closely resembling those of an average 45-year-old adult. Read more