Oklahoma: Lawmakers Vote for More Physical Fitness for School Children
A state House Subcommittee approved legislation this month that would require 150 minutes of physical activity per week for fifth- and sixth-graders and 100 minutes of physical activity for seventh- and eighth-graders beginning with the 2009-2010 school year.

Iowa: New Mandatory Lead Blood Test Could Swamp Government Systems
Under a new state law, children in Iowa will be tested for lead as they enter school this fall. Iowa joins 13 other states that have their own lead testing requirements. State health and housing experts warn that with mandatory testing, Iowa may face severe shortages in lead inspectors, huge costs for cleaning up lead and temporary housing shortages due to relocating people while lead is being removed from their home.

California: San Francisco Targets Artery-clogging Trans Fats
Last month, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to institute a program in which restaurants that voluntarily pledge not to use trans fats will receive a decal to display letting customers know they are eating at a trans fat free establishment. The trade group that represents the city's restaurants welcomed the measure and would back a mandatory ban of trans fats in food establishments.

Texas: Fitness Testing Becomes Mandatory for Texas School Children
Schools in Texas will be required this year to test all students for physical fitness. Starting next year, the new measure will require 135 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical exercise each week for eighth-graders, in addition to the requirement that is already in place for middle school and elementary grades.

Pennsylvania: State Helps Patients Help Themselves
Pennsylvania's Chronic Care Management, Reimbursement and Cost Reduction Commission unveiled a plan aimed at transforming the state's health care delivery system into a model that supports chronic disease prevention and management. Under the proposal, physicians will be encouraged to develop a more team-oriented approach that uses patient education, appointment reminders and other strategies to help patients improve their lifestyle behaviors. The state also will provide primary care doctors free electronic patient registries to track health care delivery.

New Resource for Preventing Diabetes in African-Americans
This toolkit by the National Diabetes Education Program is designed to encourage faith-based and community leaders to actively promote diabetes prevention among African-Americans. The toolkit includes 12 interactive group sessions covering topics including how to encourage families and individuals to increase physical activity, to make healthier food choices and to understand food serving sizes.

State Medicaid Coverage for Tobacco-Dependence Treatments---United States 2006
This recent report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention underscores the need to increase Medicaid coverage of tobacco-dependence treatments. The report indicates that approximately 35 percent of Medicaid recipients are smokers and an estimated 14 percent of Medicaid costs are attributable to tobacco use. The report also points out that tobacco-dependence treatments are highly cost-effective.

States Turn Challenges Into Opportunities, Advancing Cervical Cancer Prevention Efforts
This state-by-state comparison report released by Women in Government shows that states are making progress in the fight against cervical cancer, but still face barriers in terms of racial and socio-economic disparities in cervical cancer incidence, mortality, and a lack of access to care. According to the report, that 37 states received good ratings and 14 states and Washington, D.C. received fair ratings on their efforts to prevent cervical cancer.

Diabetes-Related Health Costs Soared to $174 Billion in 2007
According to this recent report by the American Diabetes Association, diabetes cost the United States $174 billion in 2007 in direct medical care costs and lost productivity. Much of the diabetes-related expenses stem from the treatment of complications caused by diabetes, while spending for routine preventive care to treat the condition is relatively low. The report also provides state-by state estimates of the cost of diabetes.

CDC Awards $24 Million for IT-Driven Pandemic Preparedness Projects
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will award $24 million in grants for projects that use health information technology to help communities prepare for and respond to pandemic flu. The grantees will undertake demonstration projects to create an electronic laboratory data exchange to support influenza surveillance, to integrate state-based immunization systems to track pandemic countermeasures, and to develop a statewide electronic mortality reporting system.

Average Annual Health Care Use and Expense for Shingles Among U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population, 2003-2005
This brief from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality estimates that in 2003, 2004 and 2005, 1.1 million persons per year had shingles or its complications and .9 million sought medical treatment. Treatment for shingles cost $525 per person. The estimates are based on data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.

The American Lung Association's State of Tobacco Control 2007
This annual report card by the American Lung Association grades each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico on their tobacco control policies on smoke-free air, cigarette tax, tobacco prevention spending and youth access to tobacco products. According to the report card, 21 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have passed comprehensive smoke-free air laws. Twenty five states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have cigarette tax rates of $1 or higher, and nine of those 25 states are at or above $2 per pack.

Other Resources

The Synthesis Project
This brief by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provides information on pay-for-performance initiatives being pursued by state Medicaid programs and private health care plans. The brief includes information on the structures and policy as well as implications of the pay-for performance initiatives.

National President's Challenge
The National President's Challenge is a new fitness program that begins March 20. It encourages individuals ages 6 and older to register on the President's Challenge web site, be active at least five days a week, and log that activity on their personal activity tracker.

CSG Annual Meeting Resolutions
The Council of State Governments monitors a host of issues that impact state governments. These issues are often brought before CSG's task force members at the spring and annual meeting through policy resolutions. At CSG's recent Annual Meeting in Oklahoma City, the Health Task Force considered and passed four policy resolutions. They addressed public health and climate change, smoking cessation, cervical cancer education programs and patient-centered medical homes. Please click on the link above to view the complete text of each resolution.

CDC Launches Redesigned Spanish Web site 'CDC en Espanol'
This Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Spanish-language Web site, CDC en Espanol, provides accurate, up-to-date information in Spanish on health issues of special interest to Hispanic communities, including information on a wide range of health promotion and disease prevention topics.