Judge Urges Iowans to Take Five Steps

A healthier Iowa is only five steps away. That’s the message Lt. Gov. Patty Judge is hoping will spread throughout the state.

Judge and local pediatric nurse practitioner Sharon Yearous held a meeting Friday morning at Mercy Medical Complex in Cedar Rapids to provide the public a view of the recommendations that came out of Judge’s Commission on Wellness and Healthy Living. Yearous, a past president of the Iowa School Nurse Organization and an employee at Xavier High School, was one of five commission members who presided over town hall meetings before meeting as a group to develop the wellness plan.

“At the two town hall meetings held in the 2nd Congressional District, there were numerous topics brought up,” Yearous said. “I agree with Lt. Gov. Judge when she says that our report is not all-inclusive. There were so many things that were brought up and every point was important. But, as a commission, we had 10 town hall meetings and we had to sort through all the verbal dialogue. The report reflects the steps that we came up with as most important, that should be focused on at first.”

Across the state, the commissioners held 10 town meetings that were attended by 459 Iowans. The comments and documents collected from Iowans at those meetings were used to develop the commission’s recommendations.

The five steps outlined by the commission are:

1. Remove unhealthy food from schools.
   • Create the HealthVend Program, a revolving school loan program that will allow schools to purchase vending machines that carry only healthy foods.
   • Improve school lunches to provide more fruits, vegetables and lean meats.

2. Improve the health of Iowa’s children.
   • Set physical activity requirements for Iowa’s schools.
   • Encourage wellness amongst students, including well-child screenings.

3. Encourage more Iowans to quit smoking.
   • Give communities the authority to pass local smoke-free ordinances.
   • Expand smoking cessation programs.

4. Encourage physical activity for seniors.
   • Work with the Department of Elder Affairs and the Department of Public Health to expand physical activity programs for Iowa’s seniors.

5. Promote wellness efforts among Iowans.
   • Encourage Iowans to get regular health screenings, including mental, dental, cancer and other preventative steps, and work with the Department of Public Health to connect them to those services.
   • Create a wellness website where individuals can learn about successful wellness efforts across the state, and create their own personal wellness plans, including information on healthy eating, physical activity and health screenings.

Although the commission is providing its findings to the public and the state legislature, there are not current plans to seek money allocations from the state.

“At this point we have not asked for allocations,” said Judge. “That is the next step. We are sharing with you the findings of the commission and the commissioners will now put their heads together again and decide what we need to do. They will determine if there are requests or legislative needs.”

Judge said the individuals in her Wellness and Healthy Living Commission will now meet with legislators who have been serving on the Affordable Health Care Commission.

“We will try to see what direction they are going,” she said. “The legislators have been dealing more with the cost and the insurance aspects. We think there is some room for us to bring these recommendations to the legislators who have been interested in health care.”

In addition to Yearous, those who also served on Judge’s commission are former Sen. Maggie Tinsman of Bettendorf, Marion County Public Health Director Kim Dorn of Oskaloosa, businessman Art Silva of Sioux City, and Dr. Seldon Spencer of Ames. Spencer, an Ames neurologist, served as the group’s chairman.

“The commission is not disbanding because they’ve given us the report,” Judge said. “The issues will continue to be discussed with the commission and ideas formulated as to where we can go and what we should do to address some of the major problems. The five steps are a starting point. Wellness is not going to be fixed in a year. We are not all going to be lean and mean and running machines in a year. But, we can start.

“We can all do better. We all need to do better. This all begins one step at a time.”