OSU receives $2.5 million for nutrition program

COLUMBUS — The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences has received a $2.5 million award from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to fund a project that will focus on improving nutrition and physical activity, and will address health disparities related to poor nutrition, physical activity and obesity.

The grant will fund the High Obesity Program, which, in Ohio, will be led by Ohio State University Extension, the outreach arm of CFAES. The five-year program will focus on rural communities, where 40% or more of adults have obesity, said Carol Smathers, a CFAES associate professor and field specialist in youth nutrition and wellness for OSU Extension.

The HOP will work to increase the following: access to physical activity by developing policies and plans that support safe and accessible opportunities for physical activity.

• Access to healthier food by promoting Ohio’s Good Food Here food service and nutrition guidelines and by coordinating uptake and expansion of Produce Perks fruit and vegetable voucher incentives.

• The number of early care and education programs that are impacted by farm to early care and education improvements by implementing policies and activities to support purchasing, serving, and teaching about local foods in early care and education settings.

The program will focus on Lawrence County, which, according to the County Health Rankings, ranks 81 out of 88 for health outcomes. The rankings consider life expectancy, quality of life, health behaviors, social and economic factors and the physical environment. The county also has an adult obesity rate of 40.6%, an adult physical inactivity rate of 35%, an adult diabetes rate of 12%, and a food insecurity rate of 17%.

The program will also focus on Fayette County which, according to the County Health Rankings, ranks 74 out of 88 for health outcomes, h as an adult obesity rate of 44.8%, an adult physical inactivity rate of 35%, an adult diabetes rate of 11%, and a food insecurity rate of 16%.

Smathers and her team like to think of HOP as the “Healthy Opportunities Program.”

CFAES is one of 16 HOP grant recipients. A complete list of the CDC’s HOP recipients and additional information can be found on the HOP website.

(Information courtesy of Tracy Turner.)

Art Show opens Aug. 18 at West Woods

CHARDON, Ohio — The West Woods Nature Center will be home to the Geauga Arts Council Juried Art Show this summer.

This will be the 17th year the art show is hosted in The West Woods Nature Center. It opens with a Meet the Artists event with refreshments Aug. 18 from 7 to 9 p.m. and will remain on display daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through early October.