Friday, September 13, 2024
9/13/2024
Texas Department of State Health Services Project Abstract –CDC-RFA-DP18-1807 The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) proposes the Texas Physical Activity and Nutrition Project (TPAN) to reduce obesity rates and health disparities across the state. This five-year initiative will increase the number of Texans who eat healthy and engage in physical activity on a regular basis by improving policies, practices, and environments in the places they live, learn, work, and play. Specific outcomes include an increased number of: 1) places with food service guidelines, 2) places that implement supportive breastfeeding interventions, 3) communities with planning and transportation interventions that support safe and accessible physical activity, and 4) number of early care and education (ECE) systems implementing nutrition and physical activity standards. TPAN will increase access to food service guidelines in 1) early child care through the Go NAP SACC program, 2) food banks and pantries through the Healthy Pantry Project, 3) and worksites by providing healthy options in vending machines and cafeterias. TPAN will support breastfeeding in 1) healthcare systems through the Texas Ten Step Star Achiever hospital initiative, 2) communities by providing lactation support training to clinical staff in outpatient settings, and 3) worksites by building the Texas Mother-Friendly Worksite program in state agencies. TPAN will address physical activity in 1) early child care through the Go NAP SACC program and the OLE! Texas outdoor learning environments initiative and 2) communities through built environment initiatives including the Texas Planners4Health collaboration, FM1807/Texas State Parks collaboration connecting children to parks and nature, and the What Makes Texas Move? stakeholder technical assistance program. To implement these interventions, TPAN mobilizes a robust network of state and local partners with a history of successful collaboration with the DSHS on nutrition, physical activity, and obesity prevention initiatives. Partners will provide quick and effective implementation of grant activities. State partners include units within DSHS, external agencies, universities, and professional consortiums with the ability to impact state systems and networks of community sites. Local partners include nine county/city health departments situated among high obesity counties and offering strong public health infrastructure and staff capacity to implement interventions. State and local partners will collaborate closely within and across the grant’s strategic areas to implement programming within high-obesity counties then expand to other Texas regions as changes to state systems and networks take root. TPAN’s potential impact can be seen in the size and scope of Texas. Texas has more than 29 million residents, 254 counties, diversity among race and ethnicity, three of the nation’s largest metro areas (Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, and San Antonio), low service delivery systems in rural areas, high levels of obesity (40% or more in TPAN’s target communities), poverty, and health disparities throughout the state. DSHS is confident its Obesity Prevention Program offers the experience and expertise to implement statewide physical activity, nutrition, and obesity prevention programs, as evidenced by the program’s history with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s statewide action awards. DSHS and its TPAN partners look forward to further collaboration with CDC and express gratitude for the opportunity.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
