Healthy Communities Projects focus their work on the best practices described in the Washington State Nutrition & Physical Activity Plan

• Increase access to healthy foods - example

• Reduce food insecurity in Washington - example

• Increase the proportion of mothers who breastfeed their infants and toddlers - example

• Increase the number of people who have access to free or low cost recreational opportunities for physical activity - example

• Increase the number of physical activity opportunities available to children - example

• Increase the number of active community environments - example

Lessons learned

• Patience! Policy work takes time

• Reassure your community that they won’t see immediate change, but they will see lasting change

• Adopting policy is only the first step: pay attention to monitoring and enforcing policy - example

• Find strategies to enforce policy once it’s in place - example (PDF, 105 Kb)

• Work the system; stack the decks - example

• Be aware of where policy change happens: community food environments, schools/daycares, worksites, land use, transportation, breastfeeding.

Sample tools and agendas

Local Policy Development Workshop

• Announcement (WORD 47 Kb)

• Agenda (WORD 96 Kb)

Healthy Development Measurement Tool: an evidence-based practice to consider health in land use planning

Active Community Environments Virtual Backpack: A Guide For Local Program Coordinators

Transportation Plan Checklist for Promoting Physical Activity (WORD 110 Kb)

Comprehensive Plan Policies to Support Physically Active Communities: September 07: Washington Department of Trade and Economic Development

Physical activity checklist for infrastructure projects (WORD 41 Kb)

Tacoma Pierce County Complete Streets resolution (PDF 45 Kb)

Resources

ENACT Local Policy Database: a catalog of promising local policies

ENACT: best practices and promising strategies to improve nutrition and physical activity environments in child care, schools, communities, workplace, health care, and government

Nutrition and Physical Activity: A Policy Resource Guide: February 2005 (PDF 2MB)

CDC Community Guide for Preventive Services

Washington State Nutrition and Physical Activity Plan

Partners in Action: showcases initiative and resources that “make the healthy choice the easy choice” for Washington’s residents

Active Living by Design innovative approaches to increase physical activity through community design, public policies, and communications strategies.
 

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