Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity: Public Resources
Looking for resources to improve your health?
We offer helpful sources on nutrition, physical activity, and obesity prevention.
Find tools, calculators, and other resources to use on the path to better health.
We’ve gathered program materials developed in Wisconsin, as well as the best sources from across the country.
Useful tools
- Alliance for a Healthier Generation—Tools and information to fight childhood obesity. It’s a partnership between the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation..
- Choose My Plate—Interactive tools for diet and menu planning.
- Foods to Avoid—The Center for Science in the Public Interest advises getting less sugary drinks, salty foods, and high-calorie restaurant meals.
- Ingredients of Concern—Facts about artificial food dyes, fake sweeteners, caffeine, and other commonly used food ingredients.
- Interactive Tools—Nutrition resources to help consumers and professionals assess and plan diets, and check personal health risks
- Kids Corner—Tips on healthy eating, interactive nutrition games, as well as snack and recipe ideas
- Menus—An interactive menu planner to guide daily food and meal choices based on your daily calorie allowance.
BMI (Body Mass Index)—Tool from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) to calculate your body mass index (BMI).
BMI-for-age charts assess weight in relation to height for children and youth. Use these charts to determine if a child is overweight:
BMR Calculator—Use basal metabolic rate (BMR) to calculate how many calories you burn per day.
ROI Calculator—Use this return on investment (ROI) calculator to project the impact of evidence-based wellness programs on health care costs, productivity, and absenteeism at your worksite.
Tools from DHS
Community Walking and Bicycling Audit Tool, P-00399 (PDF)—Rate how friendly your community is for walking and biking.
Calories burned per hour, P-40109 (PDF)—A list of calories burned during common sports and daily activities.
Healthy Living Prescription (PDF)—A mock prescription sheet for health care providers to prescribe healthy lifestyle changes for their patients.
Tools from other sources
Bicycle Maps—County road maps by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
Walking and biking routes—MilerMeter allows you to view a map and create your own walking or biking route. Use the tool to choose your route and measure the distance.
Weight training—Animated Exercise Examples show how to use free-weight equipment. The site provides workout sheets to record your weight-lifting activities.
Other materials and resources
How-to nutrition materials
Understanding Food Nutrition Labels—General information and education tools.
Heart-Healthy Cooking from the National Institutes of Health.
Resources from DHS
Breastfeeding—Learn about the importance of breastfeeding, and find other resources.
Got Dirt? Garden Toolkit, P-40112—A program to help build gardens in school, community, and child care settings. Available in English and Spanish.
Resources from the CDC
Do Increased Portion Sizes Affect How Much We Eat? (PDF)—Research on how large portion sizes contribute to weight gain among Americans. Offers ideas to practitioners about how to counsel patients and clients on portion size.
How much physical activity do older adults need?
Nutrition—Find strategies, statistics, guidelines, tips on healthy nutrition for kids, and much more.
Resources from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Build a Healthy Eating Routine (PDF)
Cut Down on Added Sugars (PDF)
Cut Down on Saturated Fat (PDF)
Cut Down on Sodium (PDF)
Talk to Your Patients and Clients About Healthy Eating Routines (PDF)
Other sources
Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025 (PDF)—Full report on federal dietary recommendations. Includes nutrition, weight management, physical activity, food groups, fats, carbohydrates, sodium and potassium, alcohol, and food safety. The report also includes guidance for specific populations.
Food and Nutrition Information Center—Useful information for health care workers, teachers, and parents.
Nutrition for Kids—Useful information for parents and teachers, and fun activities for kids.
Portion Distortion—A quiz to learn how portion sizes have changed over the years, a contributing factor to the current rise of overweight and obesity.
Healthy School Snacks—Ideas for parents, teachers, after-school programs, and other caregivers.
National Eating Disorders Association—Help detecting eating disorders such as anorexia, binge eating, and bulimia.
The Truth Behind Weight Loss Ads—A reference guide from the Federal Trade Commission on evaluating weight loss claims.
Weight Management—Evidence-based information on obesity, weight control, and nutrition.
Resources from the CDC
Physical Activity Guidelines for School-Aged Children and Adolescents
Other sources
Bike Fed—Bicycling events and programs in Wisconsin.
Safe Routes to Schools offers guidance on starting a program for your school or district. See these sites for more information:
- Federal Safe Routes to School offers background information.
- California Safe Routes to Schools has program materials.
- Wisconsin Safe Routes to School gives state information and contacts.
Afterschool Alliance—Resources, tools and information on activity, nutrition, and more. This site helps after-school providers and advocates.
Obesity in Children and Adolescents: Screening—Key recommendations on screening and help for overweight children and adolescents. Includes clinical review and future research directions.
Data
- Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity: Reports and Data from DHS.
- Data & Statistics: Physical Activity—From the CDC.
- Data & Statistics: Overweight & Obesity—Normal weight, overweight, and obesity data from the CDC.
Graphs—Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity: Reports and Data.
MyHealthfinder: Trusted information to help your family stay healthy—Reliable guide to prevention, wellness, diseases and conditions, and access to a medical dictionary (in Spanish and English).
Adult Obesity Facts from the CDC. Overview of trends, including evidence of the increase in obesity from 1985–2002.
Overweight and Obesity—Overview of weight issues from the CDC.
Take Charge of Your Health: A Guide for Teenagers—Basic tips on healthy eating and being physically active.
What Works in Worksites, P-40133 (PDF)—A summary of evidence-based and promising strategies that focus on helping people eat healthier and be more active in the workplace.
Wisconsin School Health Award—Learn to make your school a healthier place and how to apply for the School Health Award from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.