With the coming of May, it is time to prepare for celebrating National Physical Fitness and Sports Month. LetsMove.gov lauds that this month offers a “perfect time for children and families to get outside and play together;” it also offers a perfect intimation for staying up to date with leading initiatives for engaging your community in health and fitness activities. The following is a list of community health initiatives that may give you something new to consider for your community.

• The American Academy of Pediatrics offers tips for community development through infrastructure changes in their report “The Built Environment: Designing Communities to Promote Physical Activity in Children.”
• The City of Durham, North Carolina shares information on bringing health and wellness tools to all members of their community in their case study “Accessible Skate Park and Other ADA Success Stories.”
• Review “A City’s Move to Wellness” to learn about how the City of Lakewood, Colorado and Cigna used technology to ensure health improvement in Lakewood’s community.
• In their document “Cost Savings for Your Local Government,” Cigna discusses the financial benefits of promoting wellness programs within the workplace.
• Learn some community-wide benefits of growing locally in “Harvesting Community: How Community Gardens Are Helping to Rebuild Lenoir,” a case study about the City of Lenoir, North Carolina.

Before you celebrate National Physical Fitness and Sports Month with your community, read through these resources, and search around the resources on the Active Living, Health, Healthy Eating and Public Health topic pages.  Share your thoughts and stories of your community’s healthful initiatives in the comments section below this post.

Aloha,

James Davidson

James Davidson is an intern for ICMA’s Knowledge Network. You can reach him for questions and comments at jdavidson@icma.org.