Representatives of 72 organizations pledge to help county get healthy

Published 8:44 pm Thursday, July 23, 2015

EVERETT — More than 400 people representing local business and nonprofit organizations launched an ambitious effort Thursday: to improve the health of people living in Snohomish County in the next five years.

It involved more than words, though. Representatives of 72 organizations, with 85,000 employees, signed a pledge to start to make that happen.

The groups include nonprofits, like the Edmonds Senior Center, the Mukilteo and Everett school districts, the University of Washington’s Bothell campus, the Boys &Girls Clubs of Snohomish County, and local YWCA and YMCA organizations.

Each organization will participate in healthy activities in its own way, said Michelle Morford, a project coordinator for the Providence Institute for a Healthier Community, which organized Thursday’s day-long health conference.

Employees at The Everett Clinic will measure their minutes of daily activity, she said. Progress at The Boeing Co. will use the number of gym visits by employees. Some organizations will use pedometers, others electronic wristbands that track activity.

Information will be gathered on these programs on a quarterly basis, Morford said. Over time, a database will be developed so that reports can be made to the community on meeting health goals.

“The goal is being able to change the health of Snohomish County through partnerships,” she said. “It’s not about going to the doctor, but changing the way you live.”

The Providence Institute for a Healthier Community is inviting the public to post photos of their activities on its Pictures of Health hashtag on Facebook. An online health survey is sponsored by The Herald.

Gov. Jay Inslee stopped by the conference and told of initiatives in Snohomish County and around the state to improve childhood activity levels.

“The best time to achieve a healthy weight is when you’re young,” Inslee said. It takes a reduction of about 500 calories a day for an adult to lose weight, he said. For children, just 30 fewer daily calories can make a difference.

“Once they get to that dialed-in weight, it tends to remain at that for the rest of your life,” Inslee said. “A young age is the best time to battle obesity.”

The organizations that participated in Thursday’s conference will gather again in September to plan their efforts and then meet again in a year to see what progress has been made.

Dr. Gary Goldbaum, health officer for the Snohomish Health District, attended Thursday’s conference. He said he’s not aware of any other community that is working together to improve health and also measure the progress being made.

“This is just the very start,” he said. “This is a county that is on the verge of being one of the healthiest in the nation in 10 years.”

Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3485; salyer@heraldnet.com.