Health Departments Kick Off Rethink Your Drink 2014 by Reminding Illinoisans to Limit Sugary Beverages
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 22, 2014
Contact
Elissa Bassler, Illinois Public Health Institute
(312) 850-4744
Amy Roberts, Public Relations
(217) 531-4264 /
Health Departments Kick Off Rethink Your Drink 2014 by Reminding Illinoisans to Limit Sugary Beverages
The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District to Lead by Example
Champaign, IL – As part of the Illinois Alliance to Prevent Obesity’s (IAPO) month-long Rethink Your Drink campaign, the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD) will be sharing, posting and tweeting helpful information about rethinking beverage choices. CUPHD will also be active participants by challenging staff to consume only milk and water for one day.
“I’m a little worried about my morning coffee but it’s just one day so I’m ready to give it a try,” said Tara McCauley, CUPHD employee.
“We see staff walk around with Polar Pops all day. Even if they have water in those cups, what message are we sending clients,” said Dr. Nikki Hillier, Program Coordinator at CUPHD. “The students at Unity West led an event like this last month. If the students can do it, we can do it.”
Health departments across the state are holding educational events to help Illinoisans make healthy beverage choices. “As providers of a diverse array of essential services for residents, health departments are uniquely positioned to lead in educating Illinoisans on one of the easiest changes a person can make to move toward improved health,” says Beth Fiorini, President-Elect of the Illinois Association for Public Health Administrators and Whiteside County Public Health Administrator.
CUPHD is encouraging people to choose Go beverages such as low-fat milk and water and saving Whoa drinks that are high in sugar or calories for special occasions and celebrations. Just one sugar sweetened beverage per day increases an adult’s risk of becoming overweight by 27 percent. Drinking one to two sugary drinks per day increases your likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes by 26 percent. Health Departments around Illinois are doing what they can to get this information out and encourage the community to rethink drink choices.
“Not only are these entities an important point of contact for a diverse array of Illinoisans, but they have been the front line in creating food and beverage environments that ensure that healthy food and beverage options are the routine, easy choice,” said Elissa Bassler, CEO of the Illinois Public Health Institute, the administrative agency for IAPO.
Other health departments participating in Rethink Your Drink month include Kane County Health Department, DuPage County Health Department, Jackson County Health Department and Whiteside Health Department.
The Rethink Your Drink campaign is an initiative of IAPO, a diverse coalition made up of more than 140 organizations across the state, which has focused on raising awareness of the health harms of sugary beverages since 2010.
Rethink Your Drink events will continue in key sectors throughout the month, with subsequent weeks highlighting activities in hospitals and healthcare institutions, schools/universities and daycare centers:
Health Departments/Local Government Education Week:
Monday, 1/20-Friday, 1/24
After-School Programs/Non-Profits Education Week:
Monday, 1/27-Friday, 1/31
School/ University Education Week:
Monday, 2/3-Friday, 2/7
Worksite/ Hospital/ Healthcare Education Week:
Monday, 2/10-Friday, 2/14
To learn more about the Rethink Your Drink campaign, visit IAPO’s website at www.preventobesityil.org and ‘Like’ IAPO’s Facebook Page for event updates. To learn more facts about sugary drinks, visit http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/sugary-drinks-fact-sheet/.
Illinois Alliance to Prevent Obesity: www.preventobesityil.org
The primary goal of the Illinois Alliance to Prevent Obesity is to ensure that trends in obesity in Illinois are stable by 2015 and moving downward by 2018.The statewide coalition of over 140 organizations works to implement solutions to the obesity epidemic through coordinated and comprehensive policy, systems, and environmental changes.
*This message was funded in part by a grant from Voices for Healthy Kids, an initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and American Heart Association
For additional information, contact Nikki Hillier at (217) 531-2914.
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