Wiltonians Gather in Washington to Fight Obesity

If you're not already inspired by Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" campaign to fight childhood obesity, you'll soon be swept up in the infectious energy a 12-member team of Wilton community leaders has brought back from an exciting national training conference held February 17-19 in Washington, DC.

Though not officially affiliated with Obama's campaign, the conference, which was sponsored by the YMCA of the USA and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity, focused on similar goals of increasing physical activity and good nutrition in local communities. For three days last week,  over 150 participants hailing from 16 towns in Connecticut, Kentucky and Tennessee attended intensive workshops on strategies for schools, neighborhoods, communities and worksites to improve overall fitness and well-being.

Keynote speakers included Dr. Howard Koh, Assistant Secretary of Health for the US Department of Health and Human Services; Dr. Alyssa Easton, Director of the Center for Disease Control's Healthy Communities Program; and Roberta Friedman, Director of Public Policy at Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy.

"It was an opportunity for our team to get to know one another and really brainstorm as a team," said Wilton Family Y Board President Lisa Bogan. "We got to hear success stories of other communities who have succeeded with policy change and came away inspired by their creative ideas."

Bogan was joined by 11 other leaders of youth-serving organizations in Wilton, part of a larger local team that will start meeting in March to begin developing a multi-year Community Action Plan based on ideas generated at the conference and adapted for Wilton. Led by Y Executive Director Bob McDowell, Y Development Director Karen Strickland and Chamber of Commerce Director Stephanie Barksdale, the group was awarded a $52,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for the purpose of developing a plan that fosters policy and environmental change in the local community to promote better health and well-being among youth.

The Wilton Family Y was one of only six YMCAs in Connecticut to receive this grant, which is part of the YMCA of the USA's national rollout of its Pioneering Healthier Communities initiative that has been supported by funding from the Center for Disease Control since 2004. Just 45% of Wilton students meet the national standards for physical fitness, a statistic that has called community leaders to action.

"I was startled by the statistics on childhood/youth obesity, but gratified to see the visibility and attention this serious issue is getting at the local, state and federal levels," said Bill Glass, Executive Director of Trackside Teen Center. "While we do not yet know the extent of this problem in Wilton, the initiative will give us the opportunity to assess our needs and develop a comprehensive plan that will hopefully be supported by Wilton parents, youth, schools, government and local businesses."

Successful programs in other areas have included support for community gardens and farmers' markets; improved food choices in schools; increased opportunities for physical activity; implementation of sidewalk systems, greenways and neighborhood playgrounds; and construction of safe walking and biking routes to schools, town centers and shops. Community Coach Stephanie Barksdale hopes that Wilton's Action Plan will include increasing physical activity for people of all ages, noting an "inactivity epidemic" that threatens the health of community members old and young.

Indeed, obesity rates across America have tripled in the past 30 years, and childhood obesity affects nearly one-third of American children. "The most helpful and significant changes to fight the growing obesity epidemic will be those that are sustainable and broad-reaching, rather than 'quick fix Band-aids' that mask the problem but don't get at its roots," said team member Dr. Meredith Renda of Doctors Pediatric. Dr. Renda stressed the need for physicians, particularly pediatricians, to be more clear and straightforward with parents regarding their children's weight. "We need to be sensitive not to 'label' kids," she said, "but we do them a disservice if we don't address the problem."

The Wilton team is eager to address the problem head-on and begin working on a Community Action Plan. For more information on getting involved, please contact Stephanie Barksdale at 762-0567 or wiltoncoc@snet.net, or Karen Strickland at 762-8384 x 279 or kstrick@wiltonymca.org.