Spotlight on Missoula County, Montana
By Mary McCourt, Let’s Move! Missoula Coordinator
Anyone visiting the beautiful valley of Missoula, Montana might mistakenly think children living in our area have escaped the childhood obesity epidemic, but we know, unfortunately, that is not the case. We are a county of 110,000 people living in an area of 2,600 square miles. There are few food deserts and we have ample access to outstanding outdoor activities year round. So, how many of our children are overweight or obese and what can we do about it?
In order to determine the level of childhood obesity in Missoula County, the Missoula City-County Health Department (MCCHD), in partnership with local school districts, began a three-year surveillance study of third graders’ BMI-for-age percentile. It surprised many that, of those children measured, 28% were overweight and 12% obese. This fact alone was not the genesis of Let’s Move! Missoula, but rather the starting point for community conversations and partnerships.
Creating Let’s Move! Missoula
In most communities the size of Missoula, there are a few outstanding leaders who have deep ties in the community and are able to bring together other leaders of significant standing. Thanks to Missoula Family YMCA, MCCHD and United Way’s leadership, a strong table of stakeholders was formed and in 2011 Let’s Move! Missoula was created with the following mission: A public/private partnership of leaders whose mission is to reduce and prevent childhood obesity in Missoula County while enhancing the health of all residents.
The stakeholder group includes: Community Medical Center, City of Missoula Office of the Mayor, Missoula Area Chamber of Commerce, Missoula City Council, Missoula City-County Health Department, Missoula Board of County Commissioners, Missoula County Public Schools, Missoula County Superintendent of, Schools, Missoula Family YMCA, Missoula Parks & Recreation, Missoulian, Providence St. Patrick Hospital, The University of Montana, and United Way of Missoula County. This group represents an impressive cross-section of our community. The agreed upon purpose of the group is to: create, support and mobilize projects and partnerships that enhance and build healthy environments for all children and residents. Strategies include education, policy development, advocacy and environmental change.
Setting Priorities
We have had significant successes! In September 2012 we sponsored the Summit to Prevent Childhood Obesity and over 200 community members attended. We invited five experts from around the county to share their wisdom, science, experiences, and help the community develop some of the potential solutions for Missoula.
From this summit, fifteen prioritized suggestions were brought to the table, creating a path for the next couple of years. Two next steps are to explore how to increase physical activity in the many school districts in our county and to address competitive foods in the schools. We have two summits planned for the upcoming school year which will look at both of these challenges.
Progress on LMCTC Goals
Goal I: Start Early, Start Smart: This year, 72 licensed childcare providers are receiving training in either the NAP SACC (Nutrition and Physical Self-Assessment for Child Care) or Let’s Move! Childcare models. Child Care Resources has agreed to implement a certificate program for providers and advertise the guidelines for parents.
Goal IV: Model Food Service: Both the Missoula Board of County Commissioners and the Missoula City Council have adopted healthy standards for all vending/concession contracts within public places. This will take a few more months to implement, but we are on our way to setting the standard in the community.
Goal V: Active Kids at Play: Our Goal V efforts continue to be a multi-partner effort with great success. Missoula has been a Kaboom! Playful City since 2009. A joint use agreement between the school district and the parks department has allowed for open gym four days a week, with free programming for 4th and 5th graders. All 6th grade students are offered a free membership to the YMCA for the whole year. With proposed changes in the school districts, we hope to offer every child the opportunity to meet their 60 minute of physical activity per day for FREE.
The City of Missoula and Missoula County are not unlike other municipalities. We have resources, leaders, but also needs and barriers. However, we have discovered our community is indeed concerned with childhood obesity and if we continue to work together the lives our children can be greatly improved.
To learn more about the efforts of Missoula County, contact Mary McCourt, Let’s Move! Missoula Coordinator, Missoula City-County Health Department, Missoula, MT at 406-258-3895 or mmccourt@co.missoula.mt.us You can also learn more at www.letsmovemissoula.org