Last week, First Lady Michelle Obama announced a White House initiative to eliminate childhood obesity in a generation. The First Lady announced several efforts at the federal level to address what kids eat and ways to increase their physical activity and improve physical education. As we have current legislation to address childhood obesity, Ohio has the opportunity to lead on these issues.

Next week, there will be a substitute bill for SB 210 and HB 373. Legislators have asked to hear from you on the importance of quality physical education. Please send your message now so we can ensure the physical education components of these bills remain strong!
 
Tobacco Tax: A Popular Solution for Ohio's Budget
As you know, Ohio is still facing a budget deficit. To find out what solution Ohioans prefer, we asked! Given the options of across the board cuts, cutting health care related services like Medicaid, increasing the income tax, raising the sales tax or increasing the cigarette tax, Ohioans overwhelmingly chose the cigarette tax! Of course, the best use of that revenue would be to shore up funding for health-care related services (while at the same time equalizing the other tobacco products tax to restore funding for tobacco prevention!) Send your message now to let lawmakers know, in these tough times, there is a better solution to fix Ohio's budget.
Diabetes Cost Reduction Act Moves On to the Senate - Send Your Message Now!
Did you know that diabetes is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death in Ohio? While legislation has been considered for years and other states are seeing benefits, Ohio is still one of four states yet to pass this type of legislation. Let's change this fact in 2010! Encourage the Ohio Senate to hear this important legislation and act now! So that Ohio can join the many other states that already provide this critical coverage to diabetes patients, please send a quick message to your senator today urging their support when HB 81 comes up for a vote!

Fight heart disease and stroke with the Simple 7!
Recently, the American Heart Association announced its 2020 Impact Goal. By defining what it means to have ideal heart health, the hope is to improve the heart health of all Americans by 20 percent while reducing deaths from cardiovascular diseases and stroke by 20 percent. As individuals, we are encouraged to learn about the Simple 7 - step by step ways we can improve our heart health. As a state, legislators can also work to improve the heart health of ALL Ohioans with Simple 7 policy goals! Send your message today to encourage your legislators to support the Simple 7 Ohio Policy Goals!

The Grades are in for Ohio's Tobacco Prevention Efforts!
The American Lung Association just released its annual State of Tobacco Control. While the federal government and many states saw improvements in their report card, Ohio didn't! In fact, our grades were terrible.

In this year's report, Ohio received an A (smoke free environments,) a D (state tobacco taxes,) and two F's (for coverage of cessation services and tobacco prevention spending). Just as we would tell our students to work harder, we need to let legislators know they must also do better! Send your message today!

If You Could Stop Today’s Kids from Becoming Tomorrow’s Smokers, Wouldn’t You?
A recent report issued by a coalition of public health organizations, including the American Heart Association, warns that, despite collecting record amounts of revenue from tobacco taxes and the tobacco settlement, states have continued to cut tobacco prevention and cessation programs. In fact, after many years of declines in smoking rates, the report finds that we’ve come to a standstill, and are at risk of losing the gains we’ve made in fighting the No. 1 preventable cause of death in Ohio and the U.S. The report concludes, as we’ve known for some time, that tobacco prevention and cessation programs not only reduce smoking, but save lives and money. You have the power to help stop today’s kids from becoming tomorrow’s addicted smokers by simply sending your lawmakers a quick message now!

Support Healthy Choices for Healthy Children legislation to reduce childhood obesity!
Recently, the American Heart Association joined leading business leaders, other health advocates and bi-partisan legislative leaders to call for passage of new legislation – Healthy Choices for Healthy Children.

The legislation would ensure improved quality and quantity PE, better food choices for children, and evaluation of our progress through BMI reporting and other means.

We hope Healthy Choices for Healthy Children will be fast-tracked for passage, but, we need your help to make that happen! Please send a quick message to your state lawmakers and encourage them to support both the House and Senate versions of the bill.

Good Samaritan 2.0: Saving More Lives in Ohio!

In a cardiac arrest, two things are key – quick CPR and access to/use of an AED. Each year, an estimated 166,000 people suffer from sudden cardiac arrest. Even more startling is the fact that 95% of victims die before getting medical care. In honor of Sudden Cardiac Awareness (SCA) Month, let's make a difference! A simple device with some basic training can save lives, but we need your help to make it happen!

For every minute that passes without CPR, the chances of survival from SCA decrease by 7-10%. But the good news is that survival rates more than double when CPR and defibrillation can be quickly applied. By providing access to AEDs and proper training, we have an opportunity to make a real difference in someone's life—perhaps someone you love.