Fit City Tyler: Combining Public Health and the Media

Background:  The Fit City Challenge is a collaborative effort of the Tyler Morning Telegraph and KYTX CBS 19 along with the Northeast Texas Public Health District, local hospitals, non-profits, health clubs, schools and many other interested community stakeholders. The mission of the Fit City Challenge is "Making Tyler a 'Fit City' one step, one bite, and one health-conscious decision at a time." Many communities are desperately trying to address the issue of obesity and healthy living in their communities. However, great things can happen when the local daily newspaper and a strong local TV station become involved with not only reporting the news, but actively engaging with the community in addressing the problem. The purpose of the session will be to provide participants with information about Tyler's Fit City Challenge, a unique partnership that has united a growing coalition of organizations under one umbrella and challenged them to help make Tyler a "Fit City." The session will also discuss how such a program might be emulated in other communities and offer support and encouragement in how best to approach and involve local media outlets in similar initiatives. 

Program background:  The presenters will share the wealth of written and video material that has been developed since June, 2010, the participation levels at Fit City Coalition meetings and events, individual success stories, etc. They will also present the use of social media and web tool and statistics from both of the avenues. 

Evaluation Methods and Results:  The presenter will share information about the study that will be conducted by UT-Tyler to measure the effectiveness of the Fit City Challenge.

Conclusions:  We are convinced that having media buy-in and leadership in tackling this problem is a key to making the Tyler, Texas, effort successful.

Implications for research and/or practice:  The presenters would like any participant to feel confident and well-prepared to speak with the media in their community to begin their own journey towards a Fit City Challenge!