Communities Putting Prevention to Work: Cherokee Nation

Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) is a national initiative to prevent chronic disease and tobacco use and promote healthy living through policy, systems and environmental changes in 50 sites throughout the United States. The Cherokee Nation, a nonreservation Tribal Jurisdictional Service Area located in Oklahoma and the surrounding areas with more than 317,000 citizens, was selected to participate in CPPW in 2010. According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), approximately 66% of the Cherokee Nation adult population is overweight or obese and an estimated one in three children born in the community will become overweight or obese in their lifetime. Tobacco use also is a serious health concern in the region as roughly 29% of adult tribal citizens are current smokers and more than 12% use smokeless tobacco. Recognizing this, nation officials and community members have used CPPW funding to implement numerous programs to encourage Cherokees to live healthier lives, including physical activity encouragement, nutrition promotion, and commercial tobacco prevention.

The mission of Communities Putting Prevention to Work: Cherokee Nation is to promote healthy eating, physical activity and increase tobacco cessation throughout the tribe’s jurisdictional boundaries.

Communities Putting Prevention to Work: Cherokee Nation works to prevent obesity and tobacco use through various programs including chronic disease screenings, farm-to-school programs, and smoking cessation classes available to all Cherokees in the service area.

To decrease the prevalence of obesity, the CCPW: Cherokee Nation has implemented the following initiatives:
• Established biannual chronic disease screenings in the community to increase awareness among residents of their risk of chronic health problems and provide prevention information.
• Created relationships between local farms and community schools through the farm-to-school program to promote healthy meals in school cafeterias and improve student nutrition.
• Improved the quality of physical education by requiring 150 minutes of physical activity per week in school systems.
• Launched the Cherokee Challenge, an initiative to encourage individuals and families to eat healthy foods and exercise throughout the year. The program offers a variety of activities and training tips for active living, and sponsors a series of races, fun runs, and walks in various communities, including a final challenge to race with Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chad Smith.

To decrease tobacco use, the CCPW: Cherokee Nation has implemented the following initiatives:
• Referred interested community members to the 5 A's, an intervention program to treat tobacco use and dependence.
• Developed partnerships with organizations, such as the Northeast Regional Oklahoma Students Working Against Tobacco Abuse, to help educate about the dangers of tobacco use.
• Established regular smoking cessation classes that are held over eight weeks to provide community members with support and resources to help them quit.
• Required all contractors working with the Cherokee Nation to be tobacco-free, including those working at casinos, hotels and resorts, and other businesses.