About Fit City Duluth

MISSION

Fit City Duluth aims to improve the overall health and wellness of the Duluth community.

VISION

Duluth will become the healthiest and most active city in the nation.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

  • Try not to reinvent the wheel
  • Do not preach to the choir, but rather highlight and promote the choir's successes
  • Collaborate with organizations and work within their structures
  • Do not impose on already inundated organizations - Do not add to their burden, but rather HELP Support their mission while encouraging exercise and nutrition
  • Above all - ENCOURAGE, INSPIRE, MOTIVATE & EDUCATE

GOALS

  • By 2010, decrease the prevalence of preventable diseases and chronic conditions that are directly related to exercise and nutrition habits for Duluth residents.
  • By 2010, decrease the prevalence of obesity and overweight children and adults in Duluth for the first time in decades.
  • Change school policy to ensure that our children only have healthy choices for breakfast, snacks, lunches and drinks.
  • Work to realize safe bicycle and pedestrian routes in every neighborhood and connect every citizen to their local stores and trails so that those who choose to walk or drive to work, school or the store can do so safely.
  • Change the culture of Duluth to one where residents depend less on automobiles and more on human powered transportation.
  • Teach children to motivate their parents to make healthy lifestyle choices.
  • Teach parents to say enough TV, computer and video games, "let's go outside and play."
  • Teach our children to EXPECT at least an hour of physical activity in every day.
  • Reduce the number of falls by seniors that end up as serious injury.
  • Demonstrate an increase in academic achievement in schools due to increased physical activity.
  • Continually address barriers to physical activity faced by our residents.

METHODS – General

  • Promote daily activities through media channels, widely distributed communications materials, and sponsorship of local fitness and health events.
  • Collaborate with community organizations (businesses, non-profit organizations, churches, schools, day care providers, other community groups), to facilitate, organize, promote or provide resources for programs that encourage active living, healthy lifestyle choices and remove barriers to physical activities.
  • Advocate for local policy shifts that make walking, biking and physical activity a priority in community planning. Mobilize the Duluth community to advocate for safe bike and pedestrian routes throughout the city and safe access to trails and parks from all neighborhoods.
  • Advocate for local and state policy shifts in schools related to a mandated increase in P.E., less sugar drinks, and better nutritional choices available in school cafeterias.

Very Important: 2008 is a big year for DISCOVERY and RELATIONSHIP BUILDING. We are engaging in dialogue and doing surveys to understand our baseline: Real hurdles to fitness activity, Real hurdles to nutrition, Current and Real attitudes towards personal health and family's health, a better understanding of the hurdles caused by chronic illness, etc... Once our data is analyzed, 2009 may bring more focused approaches to our mission - but we need to have a REAL understanding first, not a PERCEIVED understanding.

HOW and WHY?

Fit City Duluth formed as a result of the City of Duluth and Michelle Lee with Northland's News Center, forming a Task Force to improve the health and fitness levels of the citizens of Duluth. Duluth achieved the designation in March, 2007, as a Minnesota Fit City, a program sponsored by the Governor and the MN Department of Health to celebrate and promote cities in Minnesota that support and encourage their residents to be more physically active.

Duluth, like other communities nationwide, is experiencing shockingly high rates of obesity and chronic diseases which are either preventable or where symptoms can be significantly reduced by exercise and better nutrition.

Because of the support of our Partners, SMDC Health System, St. Luke's Hospital and St. Luke's Foundation, the Northland's News Center, and the City of Duluth – and the work of over 50 volunteers and several organizations – Fit City Duluth has progressed into a comprehensive community-wide health initiative aimed to improve the health and wellness of our residents and tackle the chronic diseases associated with unhealthy lifestyle choices.

We're excited about our resourceful website and our inspiring and motivating "Be Active Every Day" campaign that includes a public service announcement from Duluth's Mayor, Don Ness. We're pleased to offer a monthly E-Newsletter offering health advice, motivation and inspirational Duluth stories.

COMMUNITY SUPPORT

Perhaps our most important and valuable work will come in the form of community outreach and collaborations with individuals, groups and organizations to identify and remove the barriers to health - whether the barrier is the built environment within our city, lack of access, an unsupportive employer, an obstructive policy, or any other very real barrier.

We need to hear from the community about those barriers. We want to hear from you, our Youth, the Parents of our Youth, our Seniors, our Employers, our Neighborhoods, and our Agencies and Organizations – We need to learn what the barriers are that you're experiencing. We need to work together as a community to move Duluth forward to achieve an environment that is fully supportive of every citizen choice to lead a healthy lifestyle.

If you are interested in receiving the Fit City Duluth E-Newsletter or would like more information on Fit City Duluth, I invite you to e-mail info@fitcityduluth.com.

Working together is a key message. Let's encourage, inspire and motivate each other, our families and our community to "Be Active Every Day."