Last week, I had the opportunity to travel to Portland, Maine to attend the 2nd Annual Let’s Go! 5-2-1-0 National Childhood Obesity Conference. Until this trip, I simply thought of 5-2-1-0 as a mnemonic – an easy way to remember healthy behaviors:
[clear]Let’s Go! 5-2-1-0 is a community-based, multi-setting intervention that supports health-promoting environmental and policy changes. Settings include schools, after school programs, doctor offices, work sites, and child care or early learning centers. Environmental and policy changes range from implementing a school wellness policy to discouraging use of food as a reward to incorporating quick activity breaks throughout the work and school day. It works! The Let’s Go! 5-2-1-0 National Childhood Obesity Conference provided engaging opportunities to learn about the science of obesity (I am talking some serious, geeked-out biochemistry). More in my lane — I picked up some best practices for implementing Let’s Go! 5-2-1-0 in communities, in particular schools and early learning centers. As always, my favorite part of the conference was meeting new folks from across the country and chatting with them about the awesome work they do to make where they live a healthier place. These Let’s Go! learnings prompted me to reflect on healthy happenings here in Savannah.