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Healthy Lifestyle Initiative
Vision:
The University of Missouri Extension Healthy Lifestyle Initiative is working to create healthy communities that support the availability of healthy, affordable, locally-produced food and safe, accessible physical activity. To achieve this, we will work with families, youth, community members, agricultural producers, business leaders and healthcare providers in communities across Missouri. We believe that our collaboration will create replicable models to combat overweight, obesity, sedentary lifestyle and related diseases, create positive behavior change and impact lifelong health within the community.
The value of involving the whole community Broad representation from all parts of the community, including public health agencies, economic development and planning commissions, public schools, churches, local food and farm groups, the business community, local government, youth programs, and the community at-large, ensures that the resources, needs, and desires of a community are fully identified and incorporated into an initiative. It also helps foster a sense of community spirit and allows individuals to take ownership in the initiative.
The value of changing polices and environments Policies are laws, regulations, or rules that guide decisions. They can be informal, such as rules that encourage healthy snacks at school or workplace parties, or formal, such as a local ordinance that prohibits smoking in bars, restaurants, and public buildings. The environment simply refers to our surroundings, including the built environment (streets and sidewalks, buildings, parks), workplace and school environments, and social environments (including the social networks and norms that influence our behavior). Because policies and environments influence many of the decisions we make on a daily basis, it is essential to create policies and environments that support, rather than hinder, healthy lifestyles. This helps ensure that everyone in a given community has the ability to make healthy choices, and that making healthy choices will be an easy option to make.
To learn more contact:
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