Illinois Alliance to Prevent Obesity

February 2018 E-Newsletter: 
News, Resources, and Upcoming Events

Dear Friends,

As the Illinois legislative session kicks off, we have provided some IAPO policy and advocacy updates below and will keep you posted regarding calls to action throughout the session. Also below is information on new events, resources, and funding opportunities. 

Please also keep your eyes out for the date of the next IAPO coalition meeting via webinar. This webinar will feature a nationally-known obesity prevention expert and will solicit input from our coalition partners on the next steps of IAPO's strategic planning process. We'll send details as soon as they are available!
 
In solidarity,

Elissa Bassler 
Executive Director, Illinois Alliance to Prevent Obesity 
CEO, Illinois Public Health Institute

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IAPO Policy & Advocacy Updates

  • House Bill 4568 (Rep. Butler) & Senate Bill 2588 (Sen. Harmon) strike the end-date of the Healthy Local Foods Incentive Fund program (P.A. 99-0928). IAPO advocated for the passage of the Healthy Local Foods Incentive Fund, but the appropriation for the fund was not made in the Fiscal Year 2018 budget. Therefore, we are now advocating not only for the appropriation, but to strike the end-date of the program (currently set to expire June, 2019) to allow time for full implementation. You can help advocate for this bill in the following ways:
    • Have your organization sign-on in support of the bill by adding your name to the Healthy Local Food Incentives Fund fact sheet! To add your name to the list, please email Sarah Chusid at [email protected]. You can also ask your partner organizations to sign-on as well!
    • Send an action alert out to your networks for people to ask their legislator to co-sponsor the bill.
  • Senate Bill 2572 (Sen. Holmes) and House Bill 4730 (Rep. Scherer) have been filed to limit the length of time schools can have waivers from the physical education (P.E.) requirements and allows school boards to decide on the schedule and frequency of P.E. courses, as long as an elementary school student has P.E. class for a minimum of 150 minutes per week and a high school student has P.E. class for a minimum of 225 minutes per week. This bill works to strengthen the P.E. requirements in Illinois that were weakened from 5 days per week to 3 days per week when the school funding reform law passed this last summer. To help support these bills, you can:
    • Have your organization sign-on in support of the bills by adding your name to the Enhance P.E. Requirements fact sheet! To add your name to the list, please email Sarah Chusid at [email protected]. You can also ask your partner organizations to sign-on as well!
    • Send an action alert out to your networks for people to ask their legislator to co-sponsor the bill. 
News, Research, Events and Funding Opportunities
Peer-Driven
 
Events: 
  • March 1st webinar, 3:00 pm-4:00 pm: Worksite Wellness Nutrition: Resources and Illinois Case Studies. Learn more and register here. 
  • Good Food EXPO, March 24, 10:00 am- 5:00 pm, UIC Forum (725 W. Roosevelt Rd, Chicago, IL)- The Good Food Festival returns March 24 to celebrate good food - local, sustainable, humane and fair. Attend workshops about Good Food Is Good Medicine, reducing food waste and more; shop for local foods at the Good Food Marketplace; watch celebrity chef demonstrations with Sarah Grueneberg, Rick Bayless, Ina Pinkney and others; participate in micro workshops and have your backyard soil tested on the Organic Valley Good Food Commons; connect kids to food with the Purple Asparagus Kids' Corner and Scavenger Hunt; eat at the Good Food Court; and much more. General Festival Admission is FREE with online registration (Master Class is $55 in advance, $65 at door). Learn more at GoodFoodExpo.org. 
  • Save the Date: Every Kid Healthy Week, April 23-27, 2018. Every Kid Healthy is not just a sentiment; it's an annual week-long recognition of wellness achievements in school communities across the country, launched by our partners at Action for Healthy Kids in 2013. Join in celebrating the sixth annual Every Kid Healthy Week from April 23-27 by helping schools host fun and interactive health-promoting events. For more information on how to get involved and additional resources to help you plan an event, go to EveryKidHealthWeek.org. #EveryKidHealthy
  • Save the Date: The Illinois Bike Summit, Monday, May 7, 2018, will be held at University of Illinois at Chicago. Learn more here. 

News & Resources: 
  • The Farm to School Census  will be distributed in the winter of 2019, but school districts and partners should begin tracking activities that are happening right now. Learn more at the Census website,  here.  
  • There are new training resources from USDA's Team Nutrition initiative for the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). The six new training worksheets provide guidance on healthy cooking, grain-based desserts, calculating sugar limits in breakfast cereals and yogurts, and serving meat and meat alternatives at breakfast. View the new resources here. 
  • IAPO's partner, Active Transportation Alliance, has released a 2018 state platform for this year's elections for governor and state legislature. It features their state-level priorities for the next 4 years around funding, policy reform, and project selection, and is a voter and candidate education tool. Read more on their platform blog, here.
  • The Illinois State Board of Education has released the results of the first year of fitness testing data per the law that IAPO helped to pass to require all students in grades 3 through 12 to participate in annual fitness testing. You can view information about the results and a spreadsheet of the results by school in the "quick links" tab of the ISBE Enhanced P.E. webpage.
Funding Opportunities:
  • Illinois School Grants Now Available. IAPO partner, Action for Healthy Kids, is now accepting applications for school grants for the 2018-2019 school year. Schools may apply for School Breakfast grants to pilot or expand their school breakfast programs or Game On grants to fund physical activity and nutrition initiatives. Schools and parents can apply for Parents for Healthy Kids grants to bring health programs to their children's schools through parent engagement. The application deadline is April 6, so don't miss out. Visit ActionforHealthyKids.org/Grants for more information. 
About IAPO

The Illinois Alliance to Prevent Obesity (IAPO) is a multi-sector coalition that works for equitable and just opportunities for Illinoisans to eat healthy and be physically active to optimize their health and well-being. Through partnerships and collaboration, public awareness building, technical assistance and advocacy, IAPO: 1) develops, changes, and implements policies and systems to support nutrition and physical activity and eliminate social and institutional barriers to maintaining a healthy weight; 2) fosters communities and institutions that integrate healthy foods and beverages and physical activity choices into everyday activities.

This initiative was launched and is coordinated by the Illinois Public Health Institute (IPHI). To learn more about IAPO, visit www.preventobesityil.org . 

Illinois Alliance to Prevent Obesity
Convened by the Illinois Public Health Institute
954 W. Washington Blvd., Ste. 405 MB 10,
Chicago, IL 60607
(312) 850-4744 voice
(312) 850-4040 fax
Illinois Alliance to Prevent Obesity | Illinois Public Health Institute | 312-850-4744
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