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Are you one of many North Carolinians who gain between one and five pounds every time the holidays roll around? It may not sound like much, but most people who gain weight during the holidays never manage to return to their pre-holiday weight.

The Eat Smart, Move More…Maintain, Don’t Gain! Holiday Challenge is a free online resource that can help you stuff the turkey, but not yourself this holiday season.

Rather than focusing on trying to lose weight, this free six-week challenge provides participants with tips, tricks and ideas to help maintain your weight throughout the holiday season. The challenge will begin Nov. 22 and run through Dec. 31. Online sign-up will be open throughout the challenge at www.MyEatSmartMoveMore.com.

Each week, participants will receive free weekly e-mailed newsletters with tips to manage holiday stress, ideas for fitting physical activity in during the busy season and resources for cooking quick and easy meals when time is in short supply. A calorie counter, food log and activity log are also available for free download to help track your progress.

In 2009, more than 5,200 people from all 100 North Carolina counties and 47 other states took part in the challenge. At the end of the program, 82 percent reported maintaining their weight.  Join us and don’t let holiday weight gain get you down!

A free webinar on resources and tips to quit smoking is being offered on Great American Smoke-Out Day -- Nov. 18 -- by the Social Marketing Matrix Team within the N.C. Division of Public Health.

The Great American Smoke-Out, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, encourages smokers to give up smoking for one day and consider quitting for good.

Thanks to the support of state leaders like Gov. Perdue, North Carolina has taken bold steps to promote smoke-free lifestyles. This has not only dramatically improved air quality for all of us, but it also has given tobacco users additional incentive to quit. In this half-hour webinar, Donna Dayer, tobacco cessation specialist with the Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch will talk about state government benefits, other programs and services and well-tested tips that can help individuals quit tobacco and improve their health. The webinar is geared toward state employees but will include helpful information for everyone. The seiminar is open to the public and will be presented at 9 a.m. and again at noon. 

The webinar is a great example of how social marketing can be used to reduce barriers to making positive behavior changes. The Social Marketing Matrix Team is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year as part of Public Health, helping public health professionals consider creative ways to make change easy, fun and popular.

Webinar Information:
Great American Smoke-out: Quit Tips for NC Employees
When:  11/18/2010 9:00 AM
Dial-In:  1-866-899-5399
Pass-Code: *2269313*
To join the meeting:
https://ncpublichealth.ncgovconnect.com/gaso1/

GASO: Quit Tips for NC Employees
When:  11/18/2010 12:00 PM 
Dial-In:  1-866-899-5399
Pass-Code: *2269313*
To join the meeting:
https://ncpublichealth.ncgovconnect.com/r26358578/

There's no need to register. The seminar will work best in Window's Internet Explorer.

If you have never attended a Connect Pro meeting before test your connection: https://ncpublichealth.ncgovconnect.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm

You can find more information on smoking cessation at our website.

As we continue to move through peak hurricane season, it is reassuring to know that the Governor’s Emergency Information Bilingual Hotline is prepared. More than 95 volunteer state employees, along with a cadre of community bilingual volunteers, have been trained as operators to provide critical, perhaps life-saving, information to callers. Using web-based technology, they are prepared to provide real-time information such as which shelters are open, what their current capacity is and if they are pet-friendly; which bridges or roads are closed; and which counties have issued evacuation orders. Operators will also provide information about housing assistance and the recovery process, as well as what donated goods are needed by survivors and if volunteers are needed.

Since Hurricane Floyd in 1999, volunteer hotline phone operators have answered tens of thousands of calls from people across our state that needed emergency information. Some of the volunteers trained for this year’s hurricane season have been hotline operators for 10 hurricane seasons! North Carolinians are fortunate to have these caring volunteers who serve as the friendly voices at the hotline – helping other people when they need it most.

Are you prepared for the hurricane season? Please visit www.readync.org (English) and www.listonc.org (Spanish) to learn how.

Happy families across our state and nation are eagerly planning homecoming parties for service members whose combat mission in Iraq officially ended this week. But for many of those who served, the trauma they experienced will overshadow any sense of celebration.

It’s not easy to walk away from combat stress, and some of our best and bravest have found themselves in the previously unimaginable position of returning home with drug or alcohol addictions. They need and deserve our support, but the unfortunate stigma of needing mental health services still lingers in the military, causing countless service members to suffer in silence.

I was proud to join Gen. Barry McCaffrey, the former U.S. Director of National Drug Control Policy, when he launched “National Recovery Month” on Wednesday at the Wilmington Treatment Center. Staffed by highly dedicated professionals and hailed as a national model, the center specializes in providing counseling to men and women in service and post-service, as well as their families.

On behalf of all North Carolina veterans and service members, I am proud to acknowledge Gen. McCaffrey’s role in recognizing their needs through his efforts to both improve and increase access to meaningful treatment options. Truly a “Soldier’s General,” he has taken this issue to heart and inspired all who attended to embrace the challenge to do more for those who have sacrificed so much to ensure our freedoms.

North Carolinians need to take better care of their health, especially with rising health care costs. That advice goes for state employees, too.  Yesterday, nearly 4,000 state employees gathered at the state fairgrounds for the 2010 State Employees Wellness Expo to learn more about taking charge of their health and keeping the cost of health care down.

More than 100 exhibitors offered health, wellness and safety resources to assist state employees in achieving their personal best.  Nutritional information, exercise demonstrations, financial wellness tips and health screenings were just a few of the many services offered to expo attendees.

State employees also had the opportunity to give back.  Expo attendees donated 30 pints of blood to the American Red Cross and filled seven collection towers of food for the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina.

The Wellness Expo is just one of the initiatives offered by the Statewide Wellness Program in the Office of State Personnel. The wellness program works with partners across the state to help state employees live well inside and out by raising awareness of such health issues as obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. The program’s second pedometer-based Miles for Wellness activity will get underway this fall when teams of employees will compete to arrive at a virtual destination.

Yesterday, I had the great fortune of meeting Mr. Robert Hess, President of the Prostate Cancer Awareness Project.  Mr. Hess, a prostate cancer survivor himself, has set out on a 48 day journey across the country to promote prostate cancer awareness.  As a strategic part of his tour, he is stopping by each state capital he travels, and talking about prostate cancer issues in that particular state.  

Mr. Hess shared that while NC has high rates of prostate cancer mortality, that we have made tremendous strides in recent years, particularly in improving the rates of screening.  In fact, according to one of the fact sheets Mr. Hess provided, NC rates a “B” grade for screenings by the National Prostate Cancer Coalition.   Further, Mr. Hess complimented the state on their policy for guaranteeing insurance coverage for prostate cancer screening – noting that we received an “A” grade in that category.   Mr. Hess spent a good bit of time talking about the importance of early detection, and in particular, cultural resistance of men to go to the doctor.  They are encouraging wives, girlfriends, moms and daughters to be a force of encouragement to get their loved ones to be screened. Like Mr. Hess and so many others ….it just might save their life.

I shared with Mr. Hess that Governor Perdue and many others in this state have made major investments in Cancer prevention, treatment and research.  Notably, I referenced our efforts through the Health and Wellness Trust Fund in lowering rates of teen smoking to an all-time low.  Further, I highlighted our state’s investment in the new Cancer Center at UNC, and Duke’s plans in the same regard.  I also cited our historic efforts to build a cancer research fund of more than $50 million dollars a year.  These critical investments are positioning NC to be a worldwide leader in the fields of Cancer research, development and treatment.

Mr. Hess left our state last night on his way through SC and GA over the next two days.  From there, he will be heading through the south, into Texas and the Southwest and eventually making his way back to California where his odyssey began.  I’d like to commend Mr. Hess for his passion in bringing awareness to such an important issue, and wish him safe travels back home.  It was a pleasure meeting you.

I’d encourage you to visit the blog that Mr. Hess is using to chronicle his trip:  http://tourdeusa2010.wordpress.com/

It’s water bottle season.

The start of school sports means summer is fading, but the heat is not. The N.C. Division of Public Health is reminding parents, players and coaches to focus as much on safety as sportsmanship when exercising in hot and humid conditions. Everybody needs to be aware of precautions they can take to avoid heat-related illness.   

We have created a page on our website to track heat-related visits to emergency departments around the state and to share safety tips.  The latest tip sheet, “Heat Safety Tips for Athletes and Coaches,” has some helpful and practical ideas for athletes, parents and coaches, including a reminder of the early signs and symptoms of dehydration: dry or sticky mouth, thirst, headache, dizziness, cramps, and/or excessive fatigue.

Our website also includes heat safety tips for the workplace and for the general public.   With proper precautions, heat-related illness, injury, and even death can be prevented. 

Infirmary Pacemakers A of Murdoch Developmental Center

Late this spring, Gov. Perdue kicked off San Diego in 60 Days, a virtual pedometer-based team competition. State employees from the mountains to the sea joined in the fun and 243 teams began the trek to the West Coast via the Gulf States.   At journey’s end, state employees had walked their way toward a healthier lifestyle with a total of 501,152 miles.

Under the leadership of Captain Billie Akers, Infirmary Pacemakers A, of Murdoch Developmental Center in the Dept. of Health and Human Services, led the way with 4,655 miles.  Close on their heels was a second team from Murdoch, Infirmary Pacemakers B.  Third place was garnered by The Little Engineers That Could from the Division of Water Quality in the Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources.

All 2,400 state employees who participated in the San Diego in 60 Days wellness event were winners and the Office of State Personnel invites you to join us this fall as we walk to the destination of your choice.

Congratulations to the Infirmary Pacemakers A of Murdoch Developmental Center!  Keep up the good work of being healthy inside and out.

North Carolinians are already reaping the benefits of the new smoke-free law for restaurants and bars that went into effect this year.

A recent study shows an 89 percent improvement in air quality in restaurants and bars since implementation of the new law.  The dramatic improvement shows the impact of the new law in protecting workers and patrons from tobacco smoke. 

The North Carolina Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch uses devices called Personal Aerosol Monitors to assess the air quality in restaurants and bars.  The monitors are used to measure the amount of particles smaller than 2.5 micrograms in diameter in the air.  These tiny particles, called PM 2.5, are one of the many dangerous components found in tobacco smoke.  The particles are drawn into the lungs and are known to cause breathing problems and lung disease, contributing to premature deaths.  Between 2009 and 2010, the air quality measured in a sample of restaurants across the state improved by 89 percent.

With approximately 13,000 smoking-related deaths in North Carolina each year, the new law and improved air quality mark significant changes to improve health in our state.  Compliance with the new law continues to be strong, with health officials receiving only 6 complaints for 6 businesses out of approximately 24,000 by May. 

For more information about the smoke-free law, and other issues around secondhand smoke, visit http://www.tobaccopreventionandcontrol.ncdhhs.gov.

A series of six policy roundtables on Building a Livable and Senior Friendly North Carolina were held across the state from April 22 to June 2 in Greenville, Greensboro, Asheville, Boone, Charlotte and Wilmington.  

These roundtables were produced through a collaborative effort involving the Office of the Governor and her Advisory Council on Aging, the NC Division of Aging and Adult Services, the UNC Institute on Aging and the state’s 17 Area Agencies on Aging. 

The roundtables engaged a diverse and informed group of stakeholders to help identify major issues facing North Carolina’s aging population that will require effective responses from the public and private sectors and the state and local levels.  The more than 600 participants included older adults, aging boomers, caregivers, leaders from NC’s aging and adult services network, senior advocates, government officials, representatives from local businesses and organizations, educators and researchers—among others.

A few of the issues identified include the link between healthcare and community service providers; awareness and understanding among people about their choices in care and the possibilities for aging-in-place; transportation and accessibility of housing; training and support for family caregivers; abuse, neglect and exploitation; skills training and job options for older workers; and opportunities for lifelong education, training and engagement. 

These issues will help lay the groundwork for identifying strategies that will be the focus of the Governor’s Conference on Aging in the Research Triangle Park on October 13-15, 2010.