KING COUNTY, WASHINGTON - Tomorrow, 150 local leaders and participants will meet in the 4th Forum of the King County Overweight Prevention Initiative to continue to advance its action plan promoting healthier eating and more active living.

“In King County we have made a commitment to turn the tide on the obesity epidemic,” said King County Executive Ron Sims. “Through our local policy work, community programs and education, we are making the changes in our society and environment that will lead to improved access to healthy foods and opportunities for physical activity.”

Tomorrow’s 4th Forum of the Initiative will feature national physical activity expert Dr. Jim Sallis. Other speakers include:

• King County Executive Ron Sims
• Julia Patterson, Chair, King County Board of Health and King County Councilmember
• Dorothy Teeter, Interim Director and Health Officer, Public Health - Seattle & King County
• Dr. Adam Drewnowski, Director, University of Washington Exploratory Center for Obesity Research
• State Senator Karen Keiser
• Patty Hayes, Assistant Secretary, Washington State Department of Health

The Forum will be from 9 a.m. to 2:10 p.m. at Highline Community College, 2400 S. 240th Street, Des Moines.

Thousands of cultural and environmental changes over the last decades have made it too easy to put on pounds through eating unhealthy foods and engaging in less physical activity. The King County Overweight Prevention Initiative is working to promote thousands of changes in the opposite direction. Participants of the King County Overweight Prevention Initiative are moving forward a 10-point action plan on nutrition, physical activity, design for active communities and communications.

Examples of work by Initiative participants:

• The “Live outside the box” educational campaign was launched to reduce TV and screen time and includes radio PSAs, a series of posters, and a toolkit in English and Spanish.
• Step Up to Health - Snoqualmie Valley is a campaign to increase physical activity in the Cities of North Bend and Snoqualmie, involving the cities and Si View Parks, Snoqualmie Valley Hospital, Mt. Si Senior Center and Public Health - Seattle & King County
• Participants are identifying King County School Districts that have adopted nutrition and physical activity policies, and ensuring these comply with state and federal regulations.
• Parents, nutritionists, and concerned residents and organizations in King County are holding monthly meetings on “farm to school connection,” increasing access to fresh local produce.
• Fit and Active Bellevue is a collaborative among the City of Bellevue, Public Health - Seattle & King, Bellevue School's PTSA, and YMCA to support public and private schools’ physical education programs.
• Washington Mutual developed a Healthy Workplace Initiative that supports workplace breastfeeding practices.
• The University of Washington is partnering with Initiative groups to identify knowledge gaps and provide evaluation to advance research discoveries into evidence-based health practices and policies.

To see more examples of local community efforts being carried out by Initiative participants, visit: www.metrokc.gov/health/overweight

In King County, more than one in every two King County adults (54%) was overweight or obese in 2004. In 1987, 37% of the population was overweight or obese. Obesity and overweight rates are highest in south King County and among certain ethnic groups, such as African Americans and American Indians/Alaska Natives.

The King County Overweight Prevention Initiative, started in 2004, is sponsored by the King County Board of Health, Public Health - Seattle & King County, and the University of Washington Center for Public Health Nutrition and Exploratory Center for Obesity Research, a National Institutes of Health Roadmap Initiative.

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