Caring for Your Mind and Body

We all know about the importance about taking care of our health—eating right, getting enough sleep, exercising. Healthy habits positively influence how a person feels and how their body functions. But good health involves not only caring for our body, but also our mind.

 What is mental health? If you were to ask your office mate, spouse or neighbor, they may respond that it is a “state of mind,” “being content with life” or “feeling good about yourself.” Simply put, mental health is the ability to cope with daily life and the challenges it brings. When a person has “good” mental health, they deal better with what comes their way. By contrast,“poor” mental health—such as feeling overwhelmed by stress —can make even day-to-day life difficult. Poor mental health can also significantly harm a person’s physical health.

 For instance, research shows that stress is closely linked to high blood pressure, heart disease and obesity. It also shows that people who feel depressed or chronically stressed may have a greater risk of physical illnesses.  The good news is there are many healthy choices and steps that individuals can adopt to promote and strengthen mental health—and overall health and well-being.

 A healthy lifestyle can help to prevent the onset or worsening of depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions, as well as heart disease, diabetes, obesity and other chronic health problems. It can also help people recover from these conditions.

 This May is Mental Health Month, the re:TH!NK Mental Health Share Shop is raising awareness of the role mental health plays in our lives and providing tips and resources so anyone can take steps to promote good mental health. These include building social support, eating with your mental health in mind, recognizing the signs of stress, and knowing when to reach out for help.

 Just as Americans have learned there are things they can do to reduce their risk of heart disease and other illnesses, re:TH!NK wants to help people learn what they can do both to protect their mental health in tough times and also to improve their mental well-being throughout their lives. We need to care for both our body and mind. To learn more on the Mental Health Share Shop click here . To learn more about upcoming local events to celebrate Mental Health Month click here. Don't forget to check back with us to learn more about caring for your mind.

Adapted from http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net

Fox Valley Bike Challenge Starts Thursday!

The time is almost here! The Challenge starts this Thursday on May 1. Although the weather has been less than ideal, have no worries as the Challenge continues through September 30 and we look forward to many good days in the coming months. Who's ready to get out and drive your bike? I've been out a couple times this spring (on those random "warm" days) but can't wait to not have to check the radar before going out every time or wear mittens just to keep my fingers warm!

The Fox Valley Challenge is already 775 riders strong, more than 25% of the way towards our goal of 3000 riders.  We will need help from each of you to encourage you, your family, your co-workers to register for the Challenge at www.nationalbikechallenge.org and ride all summer long.

The website is new this year, with a lot of exciting features. You can log in using your Facebook account AND you can connect to the Challenge from one of three mobile apps so its a snap to log miles.  

For additional information on the Fox Valley Bike Challenge, visit www.foxcitiescycling.org/challenge/

If you need a little encouragement, or want to ride in a group, The Oshkosh Cycling Club and Fox Cities Cycling Club have weekly group rides. Bring your bike and meet some new people that also like to ride!

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on Thursday (4/24/14) it's plan to extend it's control of tobacco products to include cigars, little cigars, dissolvable products, hookah, and e-cigarettes. The proposed rule would required people purchasing the tobacco product to show a photo ID and would prohibit the sale and purchase of the product to those under 18 as well as create a few other restrictions on the products.

By far the most newsworthy piece of the proposed regulation, e-cigarettes. Most likely if you listened to the morning news, checked a news website or social media page you heard something about the proposed regulation.

Let's run through what this proposed regulation looks like, specifically for e-cigarettes.

1. Current producers of e-cigarettes would be required to provide justification for remaining on the market, provide an ingredient list, and disclose the manufacturing process and scientific data.
2. New e-cigarette producers would be required to get FDA approval before being sold.
3. Selling e-cigarettes to minors would be illegal.
4. Selling e-cigarettes in vending machines in a place kids are allowed would be illegal.
5. Giving away free samples of e-cigarettes would be illegal.
6. E-cigarettes would have a warning label stating they contain nicotine, which is addictive.
7. E-cigarette manufacturers would be able to claim that their product provides reduced risk IF the FDA confirms scientific evidence supporting the claim, and confirms marketing the product will benefit public health.

Whew. That is a lot to take in. So, the FDA has proposed these new regulations and will be accepting public comment for 75 days, starting today (4/25/14). If you have thoughts on this issue I encourage you to be part of the process by submitting a comment to the FDA. We'll get more information posted once

For more information on the proposed ruling check out the information below.

FDA Press Release
FDA Proposed Regulation
CNN
New York Times
ABC News Video
NPR Blog

reTHINKing learning with Active Classrooms

Follow-up from a blog posted in early March

re:TH!NK recently sat down with Principal G (Brenna Garrison-Bruden) from Carl Traeger Elementary in Oshkosh to talk about active classrooms at her school. For those of you who are unfamiliar with our Active Schools initiatives, active classrooms provide students with opportunities for "brain breaks" throughout the school day.

Research shows that kids that are more physically active have:

• higher test scores and attendance
• improved memory, concentration and classroom behavior
• increased capacity for quality learning

re:TH!NK conducted pedometer tests at the beginning of the school year to measure how many steps our 5th grade students were taking. This gives us a snapshot of how active kids are during the school day and the whole day. Principal Garrison-Bruden shares some motivating results with us and explains how important it is for kids to be active while learning.

We are really proud to have grown Active Schools from just 2 pilot schools in the 2011-12 school year, to nearly 20 schools throughout Winnebago County in the 2013-14 school year. We know active classrooms are a great way to incorporate physical activity into the school day without taking away from learning time.

But just don't take it from me (or from the research) take it from our partners at Oshkosh Area School District, the other three school districts in Winnebago County, and the over 5000 students participating in Active Schools.