Michigan Tribes Tackle Obesity With New Ad Campaign

SAULT STE MARIE, Mich. - Sept. 25, 2015 - PRLog -- A new media campaign urging Native Americans to get healthy for the ones they love will launch September 26 in seven cities across Michigan. What Moves You? features inspiring images of Native American parents exercising with their children, highlighting family responsibility and mentorship as motivation for being more physically active. The goal is to reduce the risk for chronic diseases while improving long-term health.

“Diabetes affects Native Americans more than people from other racial backgrounds. Knowing that exercise can curb the onset of diabetes, or even prevent it, inspired me to get myself and my kids active so the chances of any of us developing this disease would be minimized. Plus, our bodies were designed to move and it’s something fun we can all do together, for free!” said Marilee Fleming, a parent featured in the campaign and a member of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe and the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Ojibwe.

Six federally recognized tribes and one health center in Michigan will distribute campaign materials and use What Moves You? to encourage their communities to become more physically active: The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, The Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, The Hannahville Indian Community, The Bay Mills Indian Community and American Indian Health and Family Services.

What Moves You? ads will also roll-out in the Michigan cities where the participating tribes and health center are located, including Detroit, Mount Pleasant, Fulton, Grand Rapids, Wilson, Brimley, Sault Ste. Marie, Petoskey and Baraga. The ads will appear online and locally on billboards, at convenience stores and in various publications.

The campaign website, MoveMoreNow.org, provides information about the benefits of exercise, outlines physical activity recommendations and highlights different types of activities to do year-round. It also includes local and online fitness resources.

What Moves You? is part of the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH)- Journey to Wellness initiative, a multi-year effort led by the Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan to improve the health and quality of life for Native Americans in Michigan. Research shows that over 65% of Native Americans in Michigan are overweight and obese.* "Forming healthy habits like regular exercise and nutritious eating, are vital in combatting chronic diseases,” said Cathy Edgerly, REACH Program Manager at the Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan.

The project is funded by the CDC and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service.

*Kaiser Family Foundation. Overweight and Obesity Rates for Adults by Race/Ethnicity. Retrieved from http://kff.org/other/state-indicator/adult-overweightobes....