Rethink Your Drink . . . Choose Water

JCPH is working promote drinking water as a healthy alternative to sugary drinks and the answer to dehydration.  The Jeffco Healthy Beverage Coalition exists to increase awareness of and access to healthy beverages for all Jefferson County families.  The Coalition is part of the Jeffco Community Health Improvement Network  as well as the Metro Healthy Beverage Partnership, a partnership to increase healthy beverages across seven counties in Denver metro.

A soda or sweet tea might seem harmless, but we now know that drinking just one sugary drink per day adds an extra 39lbs of sugar in a person’s diet each year. By drinking one sugary drink a day, an adult or child has 25% increased risk of type 2 diabetes, 33% higher risk of dying from heart disease, and 55% risk of being overweight, as well as tooth decay problems that really impact kids. In Jefferson County, as cited in our CHIP, 28% of adults and 19.1% of children are drinking one or more sugary drinks a day. 

Helping to Make Water the Easy Beverage Choice!

According to a 2015 nationwide study published in the American Journal of Public Health, more than half of American children are dehydrated at aby given time.  Dehydration can negatively impact both health and academic performance.  The School Wellness Coalition, also part of the Network, is providing a tool that helps schools assess if they have enough water fountains and water bottle refill stations available for students. The coalition is also helping schools find funding to install new ones! Parents, teachers, and students can all participate. Find out more by watching this video. 

A New and Coordinated Approach to Improving Jefferson County Residents' Health

In an effort to improve the health of Jefferson County residents in a more coordinated and effective manner, Jefferson County Public Health is proud to introduce the creation and implementation of the Jeffco Community Health Improvement Network, or Network. The Network includes over 100 community partners interested in working together to increase physical activity, healthy eating, and psychosocial well-being in Jefferson County. The Network was formed based on goals outlined in Jefferson County Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP), which was first published in January 2014. The CHIP is now being updated to reflect new partnerships and expanded community goals. If you are interested providing input into this plan update, please email Pamela at pgould@jeffco.us.

The Jeffco Community Health Improvement Network is an umbrella organization for six coalitions, or CoINs (Coalitions Integrated in the Network), using the collective impact framework to improve the health of our community.

·         The School Wellness CoIN is meeting monthly. Among other projects, the coalition is working with a variety of community partners, including Jeffco PTA, to catalogue schools that need funding for new or improved water fountains or water bottle refill stations. Students from Warren Tech are creating a video for the project.

·         The School Wellness Coalition is also helping multiple municipalities and organizations applying for Safe Routes to School Funding coordinate and align their applications. This will make their applications stronger, and will also increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the programs offered in schools.

·         The Healthy Beverage CoIN will begin meeting regularly in February, but is already collaborating on the water project and working across the metro area on a variety of initiatives encouraging healthy beverage consumption.

·         The Food Policy Council and Active Living Coalitions both held kick-off meetings in October and are now meeting monthly. The groups are working on mission and vision statements and formalizing the coalitions in preparation for on-going efforts related to health in all policies. Lots of information from these meetings is posted on www.healthypeoplehealthyplacesjeffco.com.

·         The Health in Early Childhood Collaborative has been formally invited to create a sub-committee under the TRIAD Early Childhood Council and will start meeting formally in January. Some members of this group are already supporting a 5210 Jeffco! initiative and members of this group have worked with GoFarm on a successful application to the Colorado Health Foundation to start a farm to preschool program in Jefferson County.

·         A new Preventive Care and Mental Health Resources Coalition is under consideration as an additional CoIN for the Network.

To receive updates on the work occurring within each of the CoINs or to join the Network, please fill out the Membership Sign-up form at www.healthypeoplehealthyplacesjeffco.com.