FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 14, 2014

Contact
Januari Smith (217) 558-1544

WIC Program Changes Promote Healthy  Food Choices

New milk guidelines effective October 1

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois – The Illinois Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is making changes designed to improve the nutrition and health of pregnant women, new mothers, infants and young children. Effective October 1, WIC will offer only one percent or skim milk for children over the age of two and women who are pregnant, breastfeeding or have recently had a baby.  Children ages 12-23 months will continue to receive whole milk to ensure proper growth and development.

“The Dietary Guidelines for Americans have recommended low-fat milk for some time and nutrition education provided at WIC offices has provided this message and now the milk we provide will support it as well”,  said Penny Roth,  a registered dietitian and the Director of the Illinois WIC Program.  “WIC is more than a food program, it is an education program and it is vital that the WIC food packages reinforce nutrition education messages for optimal health for our participants” 

WIC offices around the state have been discussing the campaign “Their Bodies Change, so Should Their Milk,” which emphasizes that while children over two and adults benefit from the nutrients of milk, they do not need the saturated fat and calories found in whole and two percent.   This change also aligns WIC with the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Approximately 132,000 children and 64,000 women in Illinois receive WIC each month, providing them with milk, as well as other nutritious foods such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables.

For more information about WIC, please visit the Illinois Department of Human Services website at www.dhs.state.il.us.

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Download 2014-09-14-WIC-milk-changes-PR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 21, 2014

Contact
Talia Oakley, Health Educator
(217) 531-4540 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amy Roberts, Public Relations
(217) 531-4264 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

University of Illinois and Champaign-Urbana Public Health District Partner to Offer Tobacco Cessation Program

UI Employees and Champaign County Residents Encouraged to Kick the Habit

CHAMPAIGN, IL – The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD) typically offers one Freedom From Smoking® class per year, but thanks to a new partnership with the University of Illinois, this year will be different. “Although CUPHD completed a class in April, partnering with the University of Illinois will allow us a wonderful opportunity to offer a second class in 2014 for UI employees and community members to quit together,” said Talia Oakley, Health Educator.

Freedom From Smoking® is a seven-week program that allows participants to work together with other quitters to develop and execute their own individualized “Quit Plan.”  “Quitting smoking can be very difficult, and we want to support individuals in making these difficult behavioral changes so they can be successful,” said Nikki Hillier, Program Coordinator at CUPHD.

“Being able to share with and support people who were going through the same thing I was really made the class work for me,” said Carletta Donaldson, a Freedom From Smoking® graduate.

Another Freedom From Smoking® graduate, Kenneth Coulter, stated, “It’s a great deal and a great opportunity. Planning ahead and getting support from others out of class was really helpful.”

The eight-session program is available to Champaign County residents and University of Illinois employees age 18 and older. The cost is $25.00 but anyone who completes six of the eight sessions will receive a refund.

The Freedom From Smoking® program will be offered on Thursday evenings at 5:15 pm beginning on September 11, 2014. Classes will be held in the UI Wellness Center at the Activities and Recreation Center (ARC), 201 E. Peabody Dr., Champaign. Seating is limited and pre-registration is required. To register, contact Kyle Curry at 217-265-9355 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 31, 2014

Contact
Amanda Howie Community Blood Services of IL
(217) 367-2202 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amy Roberts, Public Relations
(217) 531-4264 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Take Part in National Minority Donor Awareness Week

Local Agencies to Combine Efforts to Raise Awareness 

Champaign, IL – The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD), Life Goes On, Be The Match® and Community Blood Services of Illinois will come together on Monday, August 4, 2014 in an effort to reach out to community members for National Minority Donor Awareness Week. Representatives from the Secretary of State and Be The Match® will be at CUPHD, 201 W. Kenyon Road, Champaign, in the main lobby from 1:00-4:00 PM for anyone wishing to sign up for the organ and tissue registry as well as joining the marrow registry for those 18-44 years old. Community Blood Services of Illinois will also have the bloodmobile available for anyone wishing to donate blood.

National Minority Donor Awareness Week is August 1-7, 2014. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, minorities make up 57 percent of those currently on the organ donation waiting list. In 2012, 11,309 minority patients nationwide received organ transplants; there were 2,762 minority deceased donors and 1,711 minority living donors. While people of all ages and ethnicities can save and enhance lives through donation, organs are matched to recipients by a variety of factors, such as blood and tissue type, which can vary by race and ethnicity. Skin color is not a barrier when it comes to organ donations and transplant; however, the odds of a transplant being successful are much greater when a minority recipient receives an organ from a minority donor.

Although most ethnic groups donate in proportion to their percent of the U.S. population, the need for transplants in some groups is disproportionately high. Asian, Pacific Islander, Hispanic and African American populations are more likely than someone who is Caucasian to suffer from end-stage renal (kidney) disease, often as a result of high blood pressure, diabetes and other conditions that can damage the kidneys. This leads to an increased need for kidney transplants.

Of the marrow’s 12 million people, only 7 percent are African American. An African American patient will only find their match 66 percent of the time whereas a Caucasian person will find their match 93 percent of the time. Bone marrow and stem cells can be used to cure diseases such as sickle cell anemia and leukemia.

For more information, visit www.bethematch.org or to register to be an organ and tissue donor, go to www.lifegoeson.com or call (217) 782-6258.

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Download 2014-07-31-National-Minority-Donor-Awareness-Week-PR