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Nutrition/Physical Activity > California Project LEAN

The Health Education Council serves as the regional coordinator for California Project LEAN in the 14 county Gold Country Region. The Gold Country Region includes the counties of Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Inyo, Mono, Placer, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Solano, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tuolumne, and Yolo.

OUR VISION
The vision of California Project LEAN is that Californians are physically active, eating healthy foods and living in communities that support healthy lifestyles.

GOALS AND PROGRAMS
The Health Education Council LEAN staff work to accomplish the goal of increasing the number of school district policies that support healthy eating and physical activity through two programs, Food on the Run and the School Board Nutrition Policy Project.

Food on the Run
California Project LEAN's Food on the Run program is dedicated to increasing healthy eating and physical activity among adolescents. The program focuses on strengthening individual skills and knowledge while also working to influence high school policies and environments to increase access to healthy foods and physical activity options. Food on the Run works with teens, parents, community members and local policy makers to educate them on the importance of healthy eating and physical activity, and engage them in developing supportive policy solutions.

School Board Nutrition Policy Project
California Project LEAN's school board Nutrition Policy Project is embarking on a project to motivate school board members, particularly in low-income districts to address and enact local school district policies that support healthy eating.

HEC works with local school districts to develop and conduct professional training, community education and individual knowledge and skill development for school board members and program planners.

GOLD COUNTRY SUCCESSES:
In the Gold Country Region, four school districts are involved in the Food on the Run Program. Teens in these schools have established Project LEAN clubs, participated in assessment task force groups, coordinated sport tournaments on their campus, and work directly with the food service staff and school administration to develop healthier food options sold at school.

BACKGROUND:

• Poor diet and inadequate physical activity are the second leading cause of death in the United States and together account for at least 300,000 deaths annually.
• Obese teens are at higher risk of developing adult-related diseases such as hypertension, and high cholesterol. They are also more likely to develop Type-II diabetes and heart disease prematurely.
• About a quarter of what adolescents eat is junk food - French fries and other deep-fried foods, desserts, regular soft drinks, candy, cookies, pies and cakes.
• Only about 2% of adolescents met all five of the dietary recommendations daily.
• Over the course of a year, most children and adolescents spend more time watching television than they spend in a classroom.
• Among 12-17 year-olds, the prevalence of obesity rose with each additional hour of watching TV.
• At least one child in five and 21 percent of teens are obese. More than 80 percent of obese adolescents remain obese through adulthood.