Healthy Eating & Active Living

Helping to control diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and high blood pressure

Prevention & Control of Chronic Disease

Essential in the prevention and control of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and high blood pressure

Healthy Eating and Active Living are essential in the prevention and control of chronic diseases like diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and high blood pressure. These chronic diseases contribute to the leading causes of death nationally and here in St. Mary’s County. By focusing on healthy eating and maintaining a physically active lifestyle, residents can help prevent these chronic diseases (and many other conditions) as well as the complications associated with them. When communities focus on strategies to support healthy eating and active living for their residents, they improve population health and minimize the financial burden associated with chronic diseases.

Community Partners

Multiple community partners, including MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital and St. Mary’s County Public School System are implementing strategies that promote healthy eating and active living in our county. These strategies focus on promoting workplace wellness, healthy eating and exercise in school settings, creating a physical environment within a community that supports active living (“built environment”), and helping individuals make healthy eating and active living part of their lifestyles. Click here for more information on community-wide efforts to address healthy eating and active living in St. Mary’s County.

TOPS

The Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS®) program has provided weight-loss support to millions of people by offering tools for healthy living and weight management since 1948. Participants in the TOPS® program attend weekly in-person or online meetings to help them achieve their weight-loss goals. They also have access to members-only resources to support healthy eating and physical activity, including recipes, a weight tracker, and fitness guides.