Healthy Lifestyles Toolkit

Being overweight not only puts physical stress on your body, but it can lead to many other issues. Being overweight or obese can lead to loss of energy, depression, heart disease, respiratory illness, sleep apnea, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, just to name a few.

The Florida Department of Health in Santa Rosa County (DOH-Santa Rosa) has put together a variety of research tools, materials, and resources to help parents and children find the answers they need to make healthier choices for a healthier life.

Move Your Way

Everyone needs physical activity to stay healthy. The Move Your Way campaign encourages adults, teens, and families to incorporate activity into everyday life.

Whether you walk, run, dance, or play, small changes add up to big benefits. Visit Move Your Way for more resources on how to get active in a way that fits your life.

Physical activity can:

• Boost your mood
• Sharpen your focus
• Improve your sleep
• Reduce your stress

Check out some tips below and visit the activity planner to make a plan to achieve your goals.

Let's Go Santa Rosa!

To address the community health priority of obesity, DOH-Santa Rosa has begun a healthy lifestyle campaign implementing the 5-2-1-0 message.

"5-2-1-0 Healthy Santa Rosa!" It is a colorful, simple, health message that encourages daily habits of eating 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables, watching 2 hours or less TV, getting 1 hour or more of physical activity, and drinking 0 sugary drinks, adding more water and low-fat milk.

The 5-2-1-0 message is designed to engage the community in healthy and active lifestyles. You will find the 5-2-1-0 message in:

• Brochures sent home to students in the schools
• Inclusion on BMI referral letters sent home by school nurses
• Educational messages posted on websites of DOH-Santa Rosa and community partners
• Resources local health care providers offer their clients

My Plate

The U.S. Department of Agriculture developed My Plate as a food guidance system that is easy to understand and shows suggested portion sizes for each of the five food groups.

The emphasis of this new graphic is to encourage eating more vegetables and fruit with every meal, while also encouraging proteins, grains, and dairy.

BMI Calculator

Body Mass Index (BMI) is a number calculated from a person's weight and height. This calculation provides an indicator of body fat for most people and is used to screen for weight categories that may lead to chronic health issues. The BMI weight categories are:

• Less than 18.5 = Underweight
• 18.5-24.9 = Normal
• 25-29.9 = Overweight
• 30 or more = Obese