Fayette County Living Well Coalition stands out

March 27--The Fayette County Living Well Coalition has been recognized for implementing the most healthy activities and workshops across a network of 76 coalitions in nine states.

The coalition was established through a partnership among Marshall University, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Appalachian Regional Commission 16 years ago, explained Dr. Richard Crespo, Marshall University School of Medicine professor.

The program was meant to develop coalitions in counties identified as the poorest by the Appalachian Regional Commission, and to promote healthy lifestyles and combat an increase in diabetes.

In Fayette, Fayette County Resource Network Director Aletha Stolar directs the coalition, connecting and partnering with organizations that already offer much-needed classes and workshops.

Of the 32 types of activities Marshall University suggests the coalition implements, Fayette County offered 26 of them in 2016.

The types of activities offered include walking groups, dancing workshops, living with diabetes meetings, cooking lessons, school gardening, food security programs (like school backpack programs), tobacco cessation, health education, developing playgrounds, developing community walking paths, 5K races, yoga classes, etc.

Stolar said some of Fayette's greatest successes have been cooking classes with young children through the WVU Extension Service. She said families indicate children who take the class are helping their families make better decisions at the grocery store and more families are cooking at home together.

Since the project's inception, Crespo said participation continues to increase across the nine-state region.

In 2011, there were a total of 2,000 participants in physical activity classes across the network. In 2016, there were 35,000.

In 2011 there were 7,000 participants in healthy eating programs. That number increased to 30,000 in 2016.

"One of the remarkable things is what keeps the coalitions going is the character of the people in Appalachia and their commitment to home and wanting to make their home a better place," Crespo said. "What these coalitions have done is break down silos between organizations and get people to do a better job working together."

-- Email: splummer@register-herald.com; follow on Twitter @Sarah_E_Plummer

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