Gov. Heineman Unveils Statewide Plan
for Physical Activity & Nutrition
(Lincoln, NE) Gov. Dave Heineman announced a new statewide plan to improve nutrition and physical activity, promote healthy weight and help prevent related chronic diseases. The plan encourages local communities to work at both the local and state levels to create population-based changes.
“Fulfilling the mission of this new plan will depend on broad partnerships and collaboration among organizations, communities, and individuals across the state” Gov. Heineman said. “It will also require state and local groups working together in new ways to share resources, approaches and a common vision for a healthy future. Physical activity and healthy eating help prevent many chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer.”
The vision for the Nebraska Physical Activity and Nutrition State Plan is to develop environments where public and private entities, individuals and communities support and promote healthy lifestyles. Individuals from approximately 25 organizations worked with the Nebraska Health and Human Services System in developing the plan.
The plan details strategies and activities designed to increase healthy eating and physical activity through interventions in a variety of settings. The plan includes goals for the long-term, intermediate, and short-term time frames, and establishes the following priorities: eliminate health disparities among high risk populations, improve state and local capacity to promote healthy lifestyles, increase supports for healthy lifestyles in Nebraska communities, and to encourage daily activity and healthy eating in Nebraska’s schools and childcare facilities, worksites, and among healthcare systems and providers.
The report states that only 45 percent of Nebraska adults engage in moderate or vigorous physical activity each week. Less than 20 percent of Nebraska high school students engage in similar levels of physical activity or strengthening exercise each week. Less than one in five adults and high school students in Nebraska consume the USDA daily recommended servings of fruits and vegetables.
Richard Raymond, Nebraska’s Chief Medical Officer, said, “The irony is that much of the chronic disease we experience in this country is preventable. None of the epidemics in our history – including influenza, plague and others – are as serious as the epidemic of obesity. If current trends continue, obesity will likely become the leading health problem and number one killer in the U.S.”
The 2003 Nebraska Behavioral Risk Factor Survey indicated that nearly one in four adults are obese, while three out of five is either overweight or obese. Between 1990 and 2003, obesity among Nebraska adults more than doubled, increasing from 11.6 percent to 23.9 percent.
