By Jean Braithwaite
Tribune Correspondent
KEYSER - Local businessman Terry Stephens chaired the recent Healthy Mineral County Coalition meeting with an emphasis on the Iowa-based Pick a Better Snack program.
Stephens stated to set goals and make plans was the main issue to develop the snack program, and he also added, “We want to have something manageable that will benefit the residents of the county.”
The Healthy Coalition members took into consideration the mission statement of the group, which is to “Make Mineral County a Healthy Place to Live, Work and Play,” and established three goals to attain while implementing the Pick a Better Snack program.
The goals include improving the health of all county residents, in addition to realizing obesity is a big problem, along with working toward raising awareness to decrease obesity.
As part of the meeting, a phone conference with Misty Buchanan, coordinator of the West Virginia Nutrition Network, the statewide sponsoring agent for Pick a Better Snack, took place.
Buchanan said the snack program is a “campaign to use a variety of avenues to promote the increased consumption of fruits and vegetables in children and adults.”
Primarily geared toward
the younger set of state residents, Buchanan gave facts that 30 percent of all children starting kindergarten are overweight, while that number rises to 50 percent for fifth graders.
Buchanan mentioned that the program needs to have marketing techniques to be effective. She stated throughout the state such promotions used are public service announcements, partnering with food markets, newspaper ads, media events, and the use of billboards.
According to Buchanan, the first event she planned to emphasize the snack program was at a Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program meeting.
A. Jay Root, executive director of the Mineral County Health Department, relating to the presentation of the program’s information, stated, “We have WIC clinics in this very room that the Healthy Coalition meeting is taking place.”
To get the program in a workable undertaking and be able to reach as many Mineral County people as possible, subcommittees were formed with each group having a particular concentration.
The subcommittees will work toward the progressing of the snack program to all areas in the county, such are schools, retail outlook, public services, which includes senior centers and the MC Health Department, institutions, taking in colleges, nursing homes, hospitals, and libraries, and fairs and festivals.
Prior to the next meeting of the Healthy Mineral County Coalition, scheduled for Tuesday, July 21, at 2 p.m., at the health department, the subcommittee members will meet to lay the groundwork to plan events of presentation for the Pick a Better Snack program.
Keyser, W.Va. —
