 Encouraging Oklahomans to take steps to improve health was highlighted during Gov. Mary Fallin's fitness walk on the Capitol grounds.
Fallin led state employees on the 4th
annual Wellness Walk on June 4. The Governor announced in a
proclamation that the month of June will be Oklahoma
Employee Health and Fitness Month, highlighting recent legislation like “24/7 Tobacco Free
Schools,” initiatives such as Shape Your Future, Certified Healthy Oklahoma,
and healthy the newly released Oklahoma 2020: Oklahoma Health
Improvement Plan (OHIP).
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In May, TSET Executive Director Tracey Strader participated in a Capitol Hill briefing on youth tobacco use trends, hosted by Legacy. The event was meant to raise awareness of youth tobacco
use trends, including lesser-known but lethal products such as cigars and
hookah. Other panel speakers included Cristine Delnevo,
director of the Center for Tobacco Studies at the Rutgers School of Public
Health. Legacy CEO and President Robin Koval opened the session by discussing how tobacco use among young people has evolved. Strader's remarks focused on the increased use on unregulated tobacco products and it's risks to youth.
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Collaboration and partnerships among state and local
partners is vital to support and sustain recommended approaches to reducing
tobacco use among adults in Oklahoma. One article in the Oklahoma
supplement of the American Journal of Preventative Medicine places a high value
on partnerships in Oklahoma, where local entites are prohibited by state law to
enact certain ordinances that would work to reduce smoking and exposure to
secondhand smoke. These partnerships between TSET, the Oklahoma State Department
of Health and other groups have been successful in improving the health and
well-being of Oklahomans.
 TSET and the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) work together and support each other through the Media Campaign Resource Center (MCRC), a service
provided by the CDC.
The MCRC is a clearinghouse funded
by the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health. MCRC licenses and maintains an
inventory of existing tobacco control advertisements developed by a number of states, organizations, and federal agencies.
TSET not only uses ads that are in
the MCRC, but also provides ads to the MCRC for use by other states. This
allows TSET to keep campaign momentum and awareness of the health risks associated
with tobacco use in our state, at little or no cost to TSET.
TSET ads in the MCRC have been run
in Colorado, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Georgia, Arkansas, Nebraska and
Maryland. The most popular ads have been Visual Echo, James
Capps and various Tobacco Stops With Me
ads.
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 Two TSET
grants to the Oklahoma Hospital Association are working to improve the health
of Oklahomans by working in hospitals and clinics to create a culture of
wellness through lasting changes that will reduce tobacco use by employees, patients
and family members, emphasize healthy food choices and increase physical activity.
Click here to learn more about the Hospitals Helping Patients Quit and the WorkHealthy Hospitals initiatives.
Together
these grants are working with health care providers to educate about cessation
services and promote changes that make the healthy choice the easy choice.
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On a recent visit to southern California I couldn’t help
wondering, “what beyond the obvious natural resources and temperate weather,
might be making the culture of health there so strong?”
I noticed that communities have strategically invested in the
infrastructure to ensure that the public has access to the natural resources.
There are pubic parks with areas to be active and areas to rest in the shade.
There are trash cans, public restrooms, and all areas are clearly marked as
smokefree and alcohol free to promote a healthy environment for all ages. In
addition to those policies, the communities have also passed zoning ordinances
limiting signage so the natural resources get all the attention.
While Oklahoma and California, have their differences, more and
more research is showing that a culture of health is grown when it is embraced
by residents and supported by communities. Our behaviors and emotions are
“contagious,” and in Oklahoma health is catching on.
One article suggests
six actions you can take that are, literally, contagious..
1. Eat Healthfully – A review of 69 studies in March 2015 in the journal Appetite found that children mimic the healthy eating
habits of their parents and peers, which can lead to a higher intake of
vegetables and low-fat foods.”
2. Slim Down – In a study published
in Obesity in 2011, researchers found that overweight and obese young adults
who believe their overweight and obese friends, family, and partners are trying
to lose weight are more likely to follow suit.
3. Work Out – In a study published
in Psychology of Sport and Exercise in 2011, researchers found that people were
more likely to work out if their romantic partners did so as well.
4. Quit Smoking – In
one of the largest
studies to date of the collective dynamics of smoking behavior, published in the
New England Journal of Medicine in 2008, researchers found that if a spouse stopped
smoking, his or her partner was 67 percent less likely to smoke.The
researchers also found that even coworkers at small companies (up to six
employees) influence each other’s smoking habits: If one person quit, the
likelihood that a coworker would light up decreased by 34 percent.
5. Limit alcohol – In a study published
in the Annals of Internal Medicine in 2010, a husband was 74 percent more
likely to abstain from drinking if a wife did so; a wife was 56 percent more
likely to stop drinking if her husband quit; and friends were around 40 percent
more likely to abstain if their pals did the same.
6. Get vaccinated – You’ll
reduce the chance that you’ll infect loved ones with a dangerous illness such
as the flu,
pneumonia, hepatitis, meningitis, or pertussis (whooping cough). Eighty percent
of babies who catch whooping cough get it from a parent, sibling, grandparent,
or babysitter, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Our health is in our hands, and together we Shape the Future for
our children today and their children’s children. To get involved go to www.shapeyourfuture.com and www.certifiedhealthyok.com.
Today, smoking among kids has been cut in half and, thanks to a decision by Oklahoma voters, a majority of tobacco industry penalty payments to Oklahoma are saved in a trust. Only the earnings are used to make sure fewer Oklahoma kids are smoking.
Learn more about Oklahoma’s health indicators and outcomes in our latest annual report: http://bit.ly/TSETAnnualReport14
 TSET's new Healthy Living Program starts July 1. The 5-year community-based grant program will serve 63 counties. Learn more on the TSET website.
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