"Let's Go LinCo" campaign wraps up in area schools

Reardan and Odessa elementary schools have completed a five-week program focusing on healthy behaviors. The program, called “5,4,3,2,1 Let’s Go LinCo,” was developed through a grant from the National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality received by the Health Department in 2011 and initially rolled out in the Davenport Community. This effort focused on three goals: development of a community message to inspire healthy behaviors, improved healthcare provider-patient interactions including healthy behavior counseling, and improved nutrition and physical education policies in our schools.

“The Let’s Go LinCo campaign strives to inspire individuals, families and communities to incorporate healthy behaviors into their lifestyles to improve health status,” says Jolene Erickson, Healthy Communities Coordinator for the Health Department. According to Erickson, 34% of Lincoln County elementary school kids are at risk of being overweight or are overweight, and 25% of adults report being obese. “Incorporating healthy behaviors in our everyday lives can have an impact.”

Chelsea Wagner, an intern from Central Washington University studying Community Health Education, brought the Let’s Go campaign to Reardan and Odessa Elementary Schools this year. The five-week program represented five daily health behaviors: eating 5 or more fruits or vegetables, drinking 4 or more glasses of water, consuming 3 or more low-fat dairy products, limiting recreational screen time to less than 2 hours, and doing at least 60 minutes of physical activity. The campaign culminated with each student receiving a Let’s Go T-shirt as a reminder of what they learned. “The hope is that the kids will take the messages home and share them with family members,” according to Wagner. “So if you see a child sporting a Let’s Go T-shirt, ask them what it means.”

The Let’s Go LinCo program represents a community effort to improve the health status of Lincoln County. “It is exciting to see the enthusiasm of Lincoln County schools to improve their policies and systems to provide healthier environments,” said Ed Dzedzy, Public Health Administrator. “Davenport, Reardan and Odessa schools have allowed us into their classrooms with this program, they have incorporated student health reports, including BMI, and they have started discussion to improve their food service and nutrition policies.” The Davenport School District adopted scratch cooking strategies this year through training from the Cooks for America Culinary Boot Camp supported by the Empire Health Foundation in 2012. Other schools are excited about implementing this transition away from processed foods once funding is made available.