State Plan (PDF, 17 MB)

Program Information

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Nutrition and Physical Activity:

Individual /Consumer Page

Listed below are information and references to address physical activity and nutrition in the home setting.  The Individual and Family page is focused on the consumer looking for nutrition, physical activity and obesity that they can use to improve their health.  This page provides links to program materials developed in Wisconsin and links to external materials and information that might be helpful to consumers.

You can use this feature to find information on this Web site by category.  Select one of the categories below to view topics related to the area.

Tools

General

• BMI (Body Mass Index) calculator - Calculate your BMI

• BMI-for-Age (Body Mass Index) Charts; BMI-for-age charts are recommended to assess weight in relation to stature for children ages 2 to 20 years; used to determine childhood overweight
  • BMI Calculator for Children - Automatically figures and plots BMI for children
  • BMI for boys  (PDF, 63 KB)
  • BMI for girls (PDF, 68 KB)

• BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) calculator - Calculate how many calories you burn per day

• Health Risk Assessment - Real Age is an interactive web tool that assesses your health based on an extensive interview and then provides you with a personalized plan to feel younger and a list of what’s making you younger or older.

• Women's: My Bright Future - Physical activity and healthy eating tools  for young women. 

• Return on Investment Calculator for Worksite Wellness - Use the calculator to project the impact of evidence-based wellness programs on health care costs, productivity, and absenteeism at your worksite. 

Physical Activity

• Activity Zone - A handy form to identify nearby places that you can walk or bike to and be more active.

• Afterschool Active Hours - Site for physical activity resources, tools and information to help afterschool providers and advocates.

• Bikeability / Walkability checklist – checklist to rate how friendly your community is for biking

• Biking maps - County road maps of Wisconsin.

• Biking route - Map and measure your own route.  Use this tool to view a map and create your own biking route.  The tool lets you choose the route and automatically calculates the distance.

• Calories burned per hour - A list of calories burned per hour for common sports and daily activities. (PDF, 197 KB)

• Costs of Inactivity - An easy-to-use tool developed by East Carolina University that provides an estimate of the financial cost of physically inactive people to a particular community, city, state or business.

• Prescription for a Healthier You (PDF, 18 KB) - A "prescription" sheet that can be used by health care providers to prescribe healthy lifestyle changes for their patients.  A modifiable Word document that you can adapt to your organization is also available.

• Walkability / Bikeability checklist – Checklist to rate how friendly your community is for walking

• Walking route - Map and measure your own route.  Use this tool to view a map and create your own walking route.  The tool lets you choose the route and automatically calculates the distance.

• Weight Training - This site contains animated demonstrations of how to use free weight equipment and provides sample workout sheets to record your weight lifting activities.

Nutrition

• Alliance for a Healthier Generation - Tools and information created by a partnership between the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation that joined together to fight  childhood obesity.
• Healthy School Cafeterias - Use this tool from the Alliance For a Healthier Generation to create a healthy food environment in schools.

• Kid-Friendly Nutrition Education - Includes tips on healthy eating, interactive nutrition games, snack and recipe ideas

• Make Your Calories Count - Make Your Calories Count is an interactive learning program that provides consumers with information to help plan a healthy diet while managing calorie intake. The exercises will help consumers use the food label to make decisions about which food choice is right for them.

• Menu Planner - An interactive menu planner designed to guide daily food and meal choices based on your daily calorie allowance. For directions on how to use the Menu Planner, click on About the Menu Planner.

• Restaurants - A searchable list of restaurants in Wisconsin that have healthy menu options.

• Snacks for Kids Smart Mouth - An interactive website full of healthy kid-friendly snack ideas, interesting nutrition facts, and ways you can get involved with promoting healthy eating.

• SuperTracker (diet analysis) The online dietary assessment provides information on your diet quality, related nutrition messages, and links to nutrient information.

Tracking Logs

• Activity Logs – Samples of how to record and track your physical activity
  • 8 Week Activity Log (PDF, 13 KB)
  • Children's Physical Activity Chart (PDF, 20 KB)
  • Monthly Physical Activity Sheet (PDF, 17 KB)
  • Annual Physical Activity Record (PDF, 25 KB)

How-To Materials

Physical Activity

• Elliptical trainer: How to select and use an elliptical trainer (PDF, 88 KB)

• Fitness Facility: How to select and use a fitness facility (PDF, 818 KB)

• Free Weights: How to select and use free weights (PDF, 612 KB)

• Home Weights: How to select and use home weights  (PDF, 43 KB)

• Older adults – Recommendations for physical activity for those over 50

• Pedometers - How to Use Pedometers as Part of a Walking Program (PDF, 28 KB)

• Personal trainer: How to select and use a personal trainer (PDF, 924 KB)

• Stationary Bicycle: How to select and use a stationary bicycle (PDF, 82 KB)

• Stair Climber: How to select and use a stair stepper/stair climber (PDF, 72 KB)

• Treadmill: How to select and use a home treadmill (PDF, 177 KB)

Nutrition 

• Food Labels - General information and education tools

• Heart Healthy Recipes

General Information Materials

General

• Childhood Overweight Recommendations - Key recommendations on screening and interventions for overweight children and adolescents, including clinical considerations and future research directions.

• Data – Basic facts on US and WI physical activity and obesity data:

  • CDC – Physical activity data

  • CDC – Weight data (normal weight, overweight and obesity data)

• Graphs – Basic graphs on US and WI physical activity and obesity data

• Healthfinder - Guide to reliable health information on prevention, wellness, diseases and conditions, and access to a medical dictionary. (In Spanish and English)

• Obesity trends – CDC overview of obesity trends including a Powerpoint presentation showing visual evidence of the increase in obesity 1985-2002

• Overweight and Obesity – CDC Home Page

• Schools - What Works in Schools: A summary of evidence-based or promising strategies to get students and staff to eat well and be active.
• Teenagers Guide to Better Health - Provides basic tips on healthy eating and being physically active
• Weighing and Measuring in Schools (PDF, 1.69 MB) - This document has been developed with the following objectives: 1) to help schools to be better informed when making the decision of whether or not to weigh and measure students; 2) to provide guidance and policy recommendations to schools that choose to weigh and measure students: and 3) to provide resources for schools to create environments supportive of healthy lifestyles.  To order a hard copy, contact Mary Pesik.
• What Works in Healthcare (PDF, 360 KB) - A four-page summary of evidence-based and promising strategies that focus on helping people eat healthier and be more active in the healthcare setting.  
• What Works in Schools (PDF, 503 KB) - A summary of evidence-based or promising strategies to get students and staff to eat well and be active.
• What Works in Worksites (PDF, 480 KB) - A two-page summary of evidence-based and promising strategies that focus on helping people eat healthier and be more active in the work place.  

Physical Activity

• Benefits of Physical Activity 

• Children, Recommendations for physical activity for (PDF, 232 KB)

• Family Physical Activity Information

• Physical Activity - CDC Home page

• Walk to School Information

• CDC Physical Activity Recommendations

Nutrition

• Breastfeeding - Information and materials

• Dietary Guidelines 2010 - Full report on federal dietary recommendations including adequate nutrients, weight management, physical activity, food groups to encourage, fats, carbohydrates, sodium and potassium, alcoholic beverages and food safety.  The report also includes key recommendations for specific population groups.
• Food and Nutrition Information Center - Useful and accurate information for health professionals, teachers, and parents

• "Got Dirt?" - A program designed to assist with the implementation of school, community, and child care gardens. 

• Nutrition for Kids - Useful information for parents, teachers, and fun activities for kids.

• Portion Distortion Quiz - Learn how portion sizes have changed over the years, which may be a contributing factor to the current rise of overweight and obesity

• Produce for Better Health Foundation - Information on increasing fruit and vegetable consumption; 5 A Day fruits and vegetables promotion

• School Snacks - Healthy school snack ideas for parents, teachers, after school programs, and other caregivers. (PDF, 370 KB)

Outside Resources

General

• School Health Award - Link to information on how to make your school a healthier place and how to apply for the Governor's School Health Award.

• Lighten' Up Wisconsin - Lighten' Up Wisconsin is a three-month team challenge that encourages team members to make small, realistic and permanent changes in their dietary and exercise habits that will last a lifetime.  The challenge runs from January through March each year.

Physical Activity

• Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin - Information on bicycling events and opportunities in Wisconsin.
• Safe Routes to Schools - Learn more about how to establish a Safe Routes to School program for your school or district.  Look at these sites for more information: Federal Safe Routes for background information, California Safe Routes for materials, Wisconsin Safe Routes for state information and contacts.

Nutrition

• Fad Diets - A reference guide from the Federal Trade Commission on evaluating weight loss claims 

• National Eating Disorder Association - Provide information on detecting eating disorders such as anorexia, binge eating, and bulimia

• Nutrition – CDC Nutrition Home Page

• Weight Control Information Network - Provides health professionals and consumers with evidence-based information on obesity, weight control, and nutrition

• Wisconsin Nutrition Education Network - The Wisconsin Nutrition Education Network facilitates collaborative planning of nutrition education programs at the state and local levels.

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