This past month, Live Well Omaha Kids Director Sheena Helgenberger had the honor of talking about our collaboration with 75 North to bring Safe Routes to the Highlander at the 2019 National Safe Routes to School Conference in Tampa, FL. LWOK, along with two other communities, shared lessons learned at the opening breakout session of the conference. Their group presentation – “Growing a Safe Routes to Food, Recreation, and Healthy Places Movement” – included University of Idaho’s Helen Brown and Erin Bacon, and Columbus Parks and Recreation’s Mario Dovell. You can check out all of the confe ..read more

Giving Tuesday, happening December 3, kicks off the charitable season, encouraging people to contribute to their desired causes and organizations. We invite you do become a Do Gooder for #GivingTuesday402. During this metro-wide, do good takeover, you can support Live Well Omaha by making a donation. We would love to have your support! You can make a gift now through December 3 here.  Why Give to Live Well Omaha? I give to Live Well Omaha because I want every kid to be able to eat well and be active – no matter who they are or where they live in our community.   A donation to Live ..read more

On Tuesday, October 8, Live Well Omaha partnered with WELLCOM to honor those who promote wellbeing in the workplace and community. Live Well Omaha presented three inaugural awards to individuals and organizations that are committed to prioritizing and improving conditions that impact the health of our community.  The Live Well Omaha Community Awards:   Sister Norita Cooney Lifetime Achievement Award Community Health Innovator of the Year Community Health Champion Legacy Award Meet the Award Recipients The Community Health Champion Legacy Award This award was given to an individua ..read more

This semester, students at Gateway Elementary School have been learning all about 5-4-3-2-1 Go!® and how they can use the countdown message to live healthy lives.  Live Well Omaha Kids has partnered with the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Service Learning Academy and Health & Kinesiology graduate students from a class led by Dr. Danae Dinkel to help start a Go! Team at Gateway. The Go! Team consists of a small group of 6th graders who were elected by their teachers to be peer models and healthy living advocates.  The Go! Team recently met with the UNO graduate students to plan a ..read more

Live Well Omaha Kids recently delivered over 800 bottles of water to Gomez Heritage Elementary School. The students and staff are doing a water challenge, during which PE Teacher Nicole Bails is using the 5-4-3-2-1 Go!® message to teach them about how much water their bodies need and why. Once students have completed the challenge, they will earn their own reusable 5-4-3-2-1 Go!® water bottle!  The 5-4-3-2-1 Go!® message encourages kids to drink 4-8oz glasses of water daily. Helping children stay hydrated with water (rather than soda, sports drinks, or juice): increases their energy ..read more

On this day, everyone can play a part in supporting kids to get to school safely using active transportation (such as walking, biking, or using a scooter). Why Celebrate? Forms of active transportation like walking and biking help kids achieve increased physical activity AND reduce traffic! Every step and every push of the pedal helps children toward the recommended goal of being physically active for 60 minutes a day. Active transportation is on the decline. Nearly half of all students walked or biked to school in 1969. Today, only 14% of Omaha students actively commute. As part of ..read more

On September 16, Governor Pete Ricketts proclaimed October 2 as Walk, Bike & Roll to School Day in Nebraska. Live Well Omaha Kids and a member of the Safe Routes to Highlander Advisory Council, Miss Joyce, traveled to the State Capitol for a special proclamation ceremony. Safe Routes Coordinator Toni Igbokidi gave the following remarks: “October 2 is Walk, Bike, & Roll to School Day. On this day, kids, families, and schools across the globe are encouraged to be active by walking, biking, or rolling to school. These forms of active commuting help kids achieve increased phy ..read more

New data available The new Trust for America’s Health State of Obesity report shows that Nebraska has the 15th highest rate of adult obesity and the 23rd highest rate of youth obesity (ages 10-17) in the Nation. This report gives a list of best practice policies linked to promoting healthier kids and adults. Click here to see whether or not Nebraska offers such policies.  Why does policy matter? A series of policies are recommended within the report to encourage states to provide the most opportunities for residents to be healthy. B ..read more

This month, organizations and youth wellness champions across our nation are recognizing the continued need to address childhood obesity. Childhood obesity remains a priority in nationwide and in our community. According to the 2018 PRC Child & Adolescent Community Health Needs Assessment, one in three youth in the Metro Area are obese or overweight (this is 35.9% of Metro Area children age 5-17). The same report concluded that “obesity, nutrition and exercise” ranked as the number-one perceived health issue for children under the age of 12 among parents of children in that age group ..read more

In 2017, Live Well Omaha Kids, under the leadership of Live Well Omaha, received a Preventing Childhood Obesity Community grant from Children’s Hospital & Medical Center to work with CUES to implement Safe Routes to School at All Saints, Holy Name, and Sacred Heart School.  Below Live Well Omaha Kids Director Sheena Helgenberger reflects on the project. This is a snippet of a larger video showcasing the 2017-2018 Preventing Childhood Obesity grant recipients. You can read our Safe Routes Case Study to see what lessons we learned during this pilot phase. Safe Routes to School remain ..read more