By Holly Young, Cooperative Extension
November 15, 2006
New Hampshire’s HNHfoundation will provide nearly $215,000 during the next three years to build a website that will become a major clearinghouse for obesity information in New Hampshire.
The website will be built by the UNH Cooperative Extension as part of its “Lighten Up NH!” campaign. The overall campaign is designed to help citizens improve their health and quality of life through healthful eating and a physically active lifestyle.
As with the rest of the country, New Hampshire’s overweight and obesity rates have risen over the past 10 years to rival tobacco use as one of the most significant public health problems in the state.
More than half of New Hampshire residents are overweight or obese, according to the 2000 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey. Among the state’s elementary school-age children in 2004, 22 percent of boys and 18 percent of girls are overweight.
“We felt the UNH Cooperative Extension was the perfect place for this project, with its track record of strong educational programs in nutrition and family development,” said Sandi Van Scoyoc, president of the HNHfoundation. “New Hampshire needs one place where all the ongoing efforts can come together, share resources, and learn from each other. This web site will be a great beginning.”
When complete, the web site will help obesity activists get involved by joining task forces, sharing their success stories, finding peer support, learning about the latest obesity research and creating new initiatives.
The web site will identify, organize and integrate current information and working groups, from school-based initiatives to community programs, from research to public policy discussions.
“We’re thrilled that HNHfoundation saw the need for this kind of clearinghouse in our state and entrusted us with getting it off the ground,” said Charlene Baxter, Cooperative Extension program leader. “People need to know the wide range of resources already in place on this topic and we look forward to helping those who are already doing something about this significant health problem.”