Nutrition and Wellness

OC Wellness Coalition | Childhood Fitness | Healthy School Action Tool | Related Links

Ottawa County Wellness Coalition (OCWC)

OCWC is a collaboration of local agencies, hospitals, businesses, schools and other organizations within the community working to improve the health of Ottawa County communities. This is done using policy and environmental changes to increase residents’ access to healthy food choices, physical activity and tobacco-free living. Some examples include supporting farmer’s markets and the creation of walking paths and smoke-free environments. The OCWC Vision: Ottawa County residents making healthy choices regarding physical activity, healthy eating and tobacco-free living. The mission is to empower Ottawa County residents to adopt healthy, sustainable lifestyles.

Get Involved! Action Teams are groups responsible for carrying out the strategies of OCWC. They consist of individuals who take on tasks and work to accomplish them. Action Teams:

Meet monthly;
Develop action plans based on local data to improve the health environment of their local community;
Evaluate the effectiveness of their initiatives.

Northwest Action Team – Grand Haven, Ferrysburg and Spring Lake
http://www.gethealthyottawa.org/actionteams.asp#NW
Northeast Action Team – Allendale and Coopersville
http://www.gethealthyottawa.org/actionteams.asp#NE
Southwest Action Team – Holland and Zeeland
http://www.gethealthyottawa.org/actionteams.asp#SW
Southeast Action Team – Hudsonville and Jenison
http://www.gethealthyottawa.org/actionteams.asp#SE

To join your local Action Team please contact:

Northwest
Mary Cunningham
mcunningham@noch.org
616.847.5332

Southwest
Christine Powers
christinepowers11@yahoo.com

Northeast
Kim Kooyers
kkooyers@miottawa.org
616.393.5799

Southeast
Lisa Uganski
luganski@miottawa.org
616.393.5770

For more information visit the OCWC website.

Childhood Fitness – “Fit for A Kid”

The Ottawa County Health Department is involved in several community wide projects geared toward reducing childhood obesity. The “Fit for a Kid” project is a multifaceted approach to address childhood overweight and inactivity. The project includes a series of educational handouts and resources, an in-home intervention for families of children 0 -1 and a community intervention for families of children ages 2 - 5.

Body Mass Index Measurement Projects

Ottawa County, like the rest of the nation, is faced with the challenge of reducing rates of obesity among children. Although it was suspected that local childhood obesity rates would follow national trends, until 2005, there was no information to verify this. The health department measured the body mass index of elementary school aged children in Ottawa County. During the 2004-05 school year, height and weight measurements were taken of 2678 pre-kindergarten, third and sixth graders. The results of this screening found that 15% of the children were "overweight" and 17% were "at risk for overweight." In the 2007-08 school year, measurements of 1106 local third graders were assessed. Nearly 11% of the sampled students were classified as "obese" and 14% were classified as "overweight" (Note: In June 2007 classification titles were changed to from "Overweight" to "Obese" and "At Risk for Overweight" to "Overweight"). A body mass index measurement of third graders is scheduled to take place during the 2010-2011 school year.

The results of these screenings will be used to reinforce the need for further investigation and help to design programs for a community wide approach to addressing childhood obesity.

Healthy School Action Tool (HSAT)

The Healthy School Action Tool is a set of online tools to help Michigan schools create healthier environments. Schools that provide support healthy choices help students achieve their academic potential.

The HSAT assessment consists of questions which apply to topic areas including:

Asthma management
Healthy eating & nutrition
Physical education & physical activity
Tobacco-free lifestyles
In fall of 2007, the Violence and Injury prevention topic will be available.

Health educators are available to assist all Ottawa County schools in improving their school health environment. If you are interested in assessing your school’s health environment and would like assistance from an Ottawa County Health Educator, please contact Lisa at (616) 393-5770.