The Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine Center for Healthy Communities selected GetUp Montgomery County as the recipient of its annual Health Promotion Program Award.
The award was presented at the Center for Healthy Communities Community Advisory Board meeting on July 10.
Since 1997, the Center for Healthy Communities has invited the community to submit nominations for its annual Health Promotion Program Awards. These awards recognize community-based healthy promotion programs that serve the citizens of the greater Dayton area. To be eligible for the award, programs must have been developed and implemented by two or more organizations and involve the collaboration of two or more groups/organizations.
GetUp Montgomery County is a community-based program designed to increase physical activity and healthy eating for children, youth and families in Dayton and Montgomery County.
The program promotes the theme, “5-2-1-Almost None,” encouraging children to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables each day, spend less than two hours of leisure screen time each day (TV, computer or video games), get at least one hour of physical activity each day and drink almost none of the sugary sodas or juice-flavored drinks.
“GetUp has been busy working with child care workers, schools, after-school programs, worksites, faith-based organizations and the community to help 
make Montgomery County a model for healthy eating and active living,” said Bruce Barcelo, program coordinator and manager of the Creating Healthy Communities & Tobacco Program for Public Health – Dayton & Montgomery County. “GetUp now has more than 300 community partners that agree to share the 5-2-1-Almost None message to reach children and their families where they live, learn, work and play.”
Katherine L. Cauley, Ph.D., director of the Center for Healthy Communities, said GetUp is deserving of recognition for its work in Montgomery County. “Many of us have tried to take on the public health issue of obesity. But the approach of engaging multiple partners across the community in educational and behavior change activities, which is at the core of the GetUp program, seems to be the most effective to date,” Cauley said. “We are proud to be a part of this exciting community-wide endeavor.”
The Wright State University Center for Healthy Communities is a community-academic partnership committed to improving the health and well being of the community, educating its health professionals and serving as a force for change. The center began in 1991 as Partners for Community Health Development, and became a formal organization in 1994. In 2011, the center became a program of the Center for Global Health in the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine Department of Community Health.
