As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has made available $373 million in competitive grant funds for local communities and $120 million for states to adopt and implement evidence-based policies to improve nutrition, increase physical activity, decrease overweight and obesity and decrease tobacco use.  Through this "Communities Putting Prevention to Work" initiative, communities and states receiving funds must put into place a comprehensive plan to address healthy eating and active living through policy and environmental changes that involve the following MAPPS strategies: Media, Access, Point of purchase, Pricing and Social support.  For the community initiative, the CDC plans to award 30-40 two-year grants, focusing on communities at highest risk and where the policies and programs will likely have the greatest impact.  Interested applicants were required to have submitted a letter of intent by October 30 and applications are due December 1.  Applications for the state initiative are due November 24.

The Leadership for Healthy Communities (LHC) Action Strategies Toolkit identified 10 action strategies and 31 policy and program options to address childhood obesity prevention.  It includes many strategies in line with the MAPPS strategies that states and communities will be required to implement. The toolkit also contains tips for getting started, state and local examples and other resources.  The toolkit can help you put together your state or community’s plan and put the plan into action!

To learn more about Communities Putting Prevention to Work, visit www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/recovery.

For additional resources that may be of assistance during the application process, visit www.reversechildhoodobesity.org/content/technical-assistance-toolkits.