Health Promotion

Are you an educator looking to include physical activity into your busy schedule for your students?
Shelby County Health Department, along with other community partners, offers The School of Walk & Run of Tennessee program. This program aims to increase physical activity among students with the goal of walking at least 10,000 steps per day. A walking club is a fun way for students and teachers to be more active. Students will journey across Tennessee, walking together during the school year without even leaving their classroom! Along the way, they will learn interesting science, health, history, and college/university facts that will increase their state knowledge and get them moving more!

Students are rewarded for reaching walking milestones with Shelby County Health Department incentives, such as: ear buds, visors, sweat towels, etc.

According to The State of Obesity: Better Policies for a Healthier America released in 2017, Tennessee is ranked #6 as the state with the highest adult obesity rate in the nation. The current rate is 34.8%, up from 20.9% in 2000 and from 11.1% in 1990. In 2016, Tennessee ranked #1 in combined overweight and obesity rate at 37.7%, among 10-17 year olds. Being overweight has been linked to chronic diseases, such as: obesity, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and arthritis.

Walking is an easy and fun activity that requires minimal effort, strengthens bones, reduces excess weight, improves mental attitude, attention, and some measures of academic performance, and it may also help to prevent/control certain chronic diseases.

If you are interested in starting or reviving a walk/run club at your school, Please contact Tiffany Burks.

Healthy Parks HEALTHY PERSON
Healthy Parks Healthy Person (HPHP) TN, endorsed by TN State Parks and the TN Department of Health, is a program aimed at improving and sustaining your health by getting you outside. By simply visiting the website app.healthyparkstn.com, you can sign up and begin earning points just by getting active outside in any park. Share your activities with your friends on social media and earn badges when you hit milestones in your activity. To reward you for sticking with the program, you can use the points you earn towards rewards such as: free games of golf, free camping, free cabin stays, and free meals in your Tennessee State Parks.

Go to app.healthyparkstn.com today and sign up. Then go outside into a park and be rewarded for taking steps to a healthier you!

Have you been diagnosed with Pre-Diabetes and interested in a Lifestyle Change?

1 out of 3 American adults has prediabetes. If you have prediabetes, you can make changes now to improve your health and prevent type 2 diabetes.

The Prevent T2 lifestyle change program can help you lose weight, become more physically active and reduce stress.

With Prevent T2, you get:

A proven program to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes
A CDC-approved curriculum and trained lifestyle coach
A year-long program with weekly meetings for the first 6 months, then once or twice a month for the second 6 months
Support from others like you as you learn new skills Join the Prevent T2 program- So you can keep doing the things you love.

Click here for more information on how you can prevent type 2 diabetes.