Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity: Public Resources

Nutrition Resources

• Alliance for a Healthier Generation: Tools and information created by a partnership between the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation that joined together to fight childhood obesity.
• Choose My Plate: Interactive tools for diet and menu planning.
• Foods to Avoid: Sugary drinks, salty foods, and “Xtreme”-calorie restaurant meals are among the things you should eat less of.
• Ingredients of Concern: Get the facts about artificial food dyes, fake sweeteners, caffeine, and other commonly used food ingredients.
• Interactive Nutrition Tools: These interactive resources help consumers and professionals with dietary assessment, diet planning, and checking personal health risks
• Kid-Friendly Nutrition Education: Includes tips on healthy eating, interactive nutrition games, snack and recipe ideas
• Menu Planner: An interactive menu planner designed to guide daily food and meal choices based on your daily calorie allowance. For directions on how to use the Menu Planner, click on About the Menu Planner.

Calculators

• BMI (Body Mass Index) calculator: Calculate your BMI
• BMI-for-Age (Body Mass Index) Charts; BMI-for-age charts are recommended to assess weight in relation to stature for children ages 2 to 20 years; used to determine childhood overweight.
  • BMI Calculator for Children: Automatically figures and plots BMI for children
  • BMI for Boys (PDF)
  • BMI for Girls (PDF)
• BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) calculator: Calculate how many calories you burn per day.
• Return on Investment Calculator for Worksite Wellness: Use the calculator to project the impact of evidence-based wellness programs on health care costs, productivity, and absenteeism at your worksite.

Physical Activity Resources

• Bikeability / Walkability Checklist P-00399 (PDF): Rate how friendly your community is for biking.
• Biking Maps: County road maps of Wisconsin.
• Biking Route: Map and measure your own route. Use this tool to view a map and create your own biking route. The tool lets you choose the route and automatically calculates the distance.
• Calories Burned per Hour P-40109 (PDF) : A list of calories burned per hour for common sports and daily activities.
• Prescription for a Healthier You (PDF): A "prescription" sheet that can be used by health care providers to prescribe healthy lifestyle changes for their patients.
• Walkability / Bikeability Checklist P-00399 (PDF): Rate how friendly your community is for walking.
• Walking Route: Map and measure your own route. Use this tool to view a map and create your own walking route. The tool lets you choose the route and automatically calculates the distance.
• Weight Training: This site contains animated demonstrations of how to use free-weight equipment and provides sample workout sheets to record

Nutrition Resources

• Food Labels: General information and education tools
• Heart-Healthy Recipes
• How much physical activity do older adults need?

Nutrition Resources

• Breastfeeding: Information and Materials
• Dietary Guidelines 2020-2025: Full report on federal dietary recommendations including adequate nutrients, weight management, physical activity, food groups to encourage, fats, carbohydrates, sodium and potassium, alcoholic beverages and food safety. The report also includes key recommendations for specific population groups.
• Food and Nutrition Information Center: Useful and accurate information for health professionals, teachers, and parents
• "Got Dirt?" P-40112 (PDF): A program designed to assist with the implementation of school, community, and child care gardens.
• Nutrition for Kids: Useful information for parents, teachers, and fun activities for kids.
• Portion size and weight management (PDF): CDC research on how large portion sizes have contributed to weight gain among Americans. This section also offers ideas to practitioners about how to counsel their patients or clients about portion size.
• Portion Distortion Quiz: Learn how portion sizes have changed over the years, which may be a contributing factor to the current rise of overweight and obesity.
• School Snacks: Healthy school snack ideas for parents, teachers, after school programs, and other caregivers.

Crosscutting Resources

• Afterschool Alliance: Site for resources, tools and information around activity, nutrition, and more to help afterschool providers and advocates.
• Childhood Overweight Recommendations: Key recommendations on screening and interventions for overweight children and adolescents, including clinical considerations and future research directions.
• Data: Basic Facts on U.S. and Wisconsin Physical Activity and Obesity
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Physical Activity Data
  • CDC: Weight Data (normal weight, overweight and obesity data)
• Graphs: Basic Graphs Showing U.S. and Wisconsin Physical Activity and Obesity Data
• Healthfinder: Guide to reliable health information on prevention, wellness, diseases and conditions, and access to a medical dictionary (In Spanish and English).
• Obesity trends: CDC overview of obesity trends including maps showing visual evidence of the increase in obesity.
• Overweight and Obesity CDC Home Page
• Teenagers Guide to Better Health: Provides basic tips on healthy eating and being physically active.
• What Works in Worksites P-40133 (PDF): A two-page summary of evidence-based and promising strategies that focus on helping people eat healthier and be more active in the workplace.

Physical Activity Resources

• Benefits of Physical Activity
• Children, Recommendations for Physical Activity
• Physical Activity CDC Home page
• CDC Physical Activity Recommendations

External Resources: General

Wisconsin School Health Award: Link to information on how to make your school a healthier place and how to apply for the School Health Award through the Department of Public Instruction.

External Resources: Physical Activity

• Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin: Information on bicycling events and opportunities in Wisconsin.
• Safe Routes to Schools: Learn more about how to establish a Safe Routes to School program for your school or district.
  • Federal Safe Routes for background information.
  • California Safe Routes for materials.
  • Wisconsin Safe Routes for state information and contacts.

External Resources: Nutrition

• CDC Nutrition Home Page
• Build a Healthy Eating Routine (PDF)
• Cut Down on Added Sugars (PDF)
• Cut Down on Saturated Fats (PDF)
• Cut Down on Sodium (PDF)
• National Eating Disorder Association: Provides information on detecting eating disorders such as anorexia, binge eating, and bulimia.
• Talk to Your Patients and Clients About Healthy Eating Routines (PDF)
• The Truth Behind Weight Loss Ads: A reference guide from the Federal Trade Commission on evaluating weight loss claims.
• Weight Control Information Network: Provides health professionals and consumers with evidence-based information on obesity, weight control, and nutrition.