The university's department of public and community health and Maryland Cooperative Extension, have launched the Eat Smart, Be Fit, Maryland! website (http://www.eatsmart.umd.edu), a site that gives Maryland families research-based information about healthy eating and staying active.

The interactive site has information and tools on nutrition and physical activity, including food and activity logs, games to learn how to save on food costs, and links to local grocery specials. The site also provides information on local nutrition and fitness resources and events for every county in Maryland.

The open access site is part of a demonstration program aimed at decreasing the risk of chronic disease, by helping adults and youth make healthy food and activity choices, and improving community health through increasing available resources to Maryland residents.

Says Dr. Nancy Atkinson, Director of the Public Health Informatics Research Laboratory (College of Health and Human Performance), which developed the site, "One of the goals of this interactive website is to connect community members with each other to improve overall community health. This website was developed specifically for Maryland residents, after months of talking with community members throughout the state to learn about their needs and wants."

"The website supports the efforts of other health agencies in the community, and also acts as a resource for families that may not have access to information from other sources," says Lisa Lachenmayr, Curriculum Development and Outreach Coordinator for the Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program at the Maryland Cooperative Extension. "We hope the website will make it very easy for people to get research-based answers to their nutrition and physical activity questions, and to find out what health programs are available to them. It's a great way for residents to get involved in their health and in their community."

One website user said, "The website has definitely helped me a lot. I have learned how to balance and stretch meals on a very low income. I have gone hiking in several of the parks in the local directory. It has been a resource for things that I otherwise wouldn't have known about."

The Eat Smart, Be Fit, Maryland! website is the result of a collaboration between The Public Health Informatics Research Laboratory, in the department of public and community health and the Maryland Cooperative Extension's Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program (College of Agriculture and Natural Resources), to study ways to promote positive health behavior among food stamp participants in Maryland. The project is a five-year effort that includes: a comprehensive needs assessment; a Web-based community health promotion intervention using three strategies; an impact, process and outcome evaluation; and statewide dissemination of the most effective intervention strategy.

"The project is in its fifth year," says Atkinson. "This year we will disseminate and promote awareness of the website throughout the state. We are also going to collect data through the website, to further understand how technology can be used for health education and to promote community behavior change."

The Eat Smart, Be Fit, Maryland! demonstration project is funded by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. After this year, Maryland Cooperative Extension will maintain the website.

For more information, contact the project team at eatsmartmd@umd.edu.

Contact:
Amy S. Billing, Faculty Research Assistant
Public Health Informatics Research Laboratory
Department of Public and Community Health
billing@umd.edu (email)
301.405.2468 (phone)