Leadership for solutions

For the first time, public health, zoning, transportation, fitness, education, government, law and some business interests are united in determination to help reverse the trend of American obesity and inactivity.  

Active Living Leadership (ALL) is an initiative of the Washington Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity (WCPPA). WCPPA is a statewide coalition of public and private organizations. Our mission is to promote environments that offer active living options - a way of life that integrates physical activity into daily routines.

Active Living Leadership is a national initiative that involves collaborations between The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and several national partner organizations, including the National Governor's Association (NGA) Centers for Best Practices. In 2003, WCPPA partnered with NGA and the Washington State Department of Health to bring ALL to our state. ALL supports key business and government leaders as they create and promote policies, programs and places to enable active living. See the report on the April 21st meeting on the Active Living Leadership website.

The Coalition also partnered to commission a study on the cost of physical inactivity in Washington. To see the DOH press release on this study, click here. To download the Executive Summary of this report (a .PDF file) click here.

As a coalition we are the voice for hundreds of staff, board members, and volunteers, and thousands of members of state departments, associations and community groups in each of the 39 counties across Washington State.  

Active Living Leadership works to:

• Educate leaders about the impact of community design on health.
• Provide information about policies and programs that support active living.
• Create tools and materials to help leaders implement active living strategies.
• Facilitate cooperative efforts between state and local leaders.
• Build a network to provide peer support for leaders working on active living issues.
• Help leaders generate community support for active living.

When people consider factors adversely affecting their health, they generally focus on influences, such as poor diet or the need for more exercise.  

Community factors such as housing characteristics, land-use patterns, transportation choices, or architectural or urban-design decisions, may be considered as potential health hazards.

Being inactive has been linked to an increase in heart disease, high blood pressure, dangerous cholesterol levels, cancer and diabetes. Factors contributing to an individual's choice to be active or not include:

• Long, unwalkable distances between homes, shopping, jobs and schools;
• Lack of safe places to walk or exercise, and few easily accessible destinations;
• Perception that walking and bicycling are unsafe due to traffic; and,
• Buildings and sites designed to accommodate access in cars, not by feet.

Clearly individual choice is important but equally important are environment/policy issues that make it difficult for the individual to make the healthy choice.