Mobilizing Providers for Heart Health & Cancer Prevention
Observed each year in February, American Heart Month is a great time to renew your dedication to helping patients and populations reduce their risk for heart disease. 

For this year’s campaign, Million Hearts® and the CDC Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention (DHDSP) are emphasizing the importance of heart health in younger adults. Not only are more younger adults dying of heart disease, but their rates of controllable risk factors—such as physical inactivity, tobacco use, and hypertension—are also increasing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) encourages providers to stress with patients and populations of all ages that risk for heart disease can be reduced through lifestyle changes and by managing medical conditions.

The American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM) supports #HeartMonth and has compiled a collection of heart health resources for physicians, allied health professionals, and patients. The collection includes guidelines, reports, initiatives, events, articles, and educational opportunities developed by ACPM an d our partners—including the Lifestyle Medicine Core Competencies Program and the Public Health Grand Rounds " Million Hearts 2022: A Compelling Call to Action" event to be held February 20.
February is also National Cancer Prevention Month, organized by the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR). This year's campaign focuses on two key messages:
  • There is strong scientific evidence linking lifestyle factors to cancer risk, and
  • Small changes in lifestyle factors can prevent cancer.

ACPM supports their efforts and has assembled a range of cancer prevention resources for your convenience—including two Choosing Wisely® handouts on commonly overused preventive services related to cancer. Use the #CancerPrevention tag when sharing information with your networks. 
ACPM Comments on USDA Rule for School Nutrition Standards
ACPM submitted a comment to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service opposing the interim final rule, " Child Nutrition Programs: Flexibilities for Milk, Whole Grains, and Sodium Requirements." ACPM urged the USDA to not weaken the 2012 updates to school nutrition standards and to continue enforcement of standards that will benefit the health of school-aged children.

The comments identified and explained how the interim rule would prove detrimental to child health, specifically highlighting that:
  • Allowing flavored low-fat milk would undercut recommended dietary advice.
  • Waiving whole-grains requirements would be a setback in the progress already made by many schools.
  • The three-year delay in the second sodium reduction levels will contribute to the rise in chronic disease among children.

In the closing comments, ACPM asserts that: “Children deserve schools that provide the best opportunities for health and learning. Not only do the new school nutrition standards improve the opportunity for students to be healthy, the standards also directly impact academic achievement.”
CDC's Active People, Healthy Nation Initiative

In America, inactivity contributes to 1 in 10 premature deaths and is associated with $117 billion in annual health care costs. Only 20 percent of adults and 20 percent of high school students fully meet physical activity guidelines for aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities.

To save lives and protect health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its partners have launched the Active People, Healthy Nation initiative to help 25 million Americans become more physically active. The goals of the initiative are to: 
  • Use proven programs to promote physical activity at national, state and local levels.
  • Support partners to create and sustain national, state and local efforts to increase physical activity.
  • Connect and communicate the benefits of adopting an active lifestyle.
  • Prepare local and state leaders to promote and support physical activity.
  • Address gaps in monitoring and evaluating physical activity, walking, and walkable communities.

The CDC has put together factsheets for providers about the initiative and about the importance and benefits of increasing physical activity in America.
ACPM Joins the Diabetes Advocacy Alliance

ACPM is pleased to announce their recent acceptance into the Diabetes Advocacy Alliance, a coalition of organizations united in an effort to change the way diabetes is viewed and treated in America. 

Members work to inform and educate legislators and other policymakers about the enormous challenges that diabetes and prediabetes pose to the nation's health and prosperity, and how legislation and public policy can help populations of people with type 2 diabetes and associated health complications.
RESEARCH / NEWS
Schools push lifestyle medicine to boost chronic-disease prevention – To address the lack of medical education about how lifestyle influences health, the AMA House of Delegates recently adopted a resolution proposed by ACPM that focuses on arming physicians with information on healthy lifestyles to pass along to patients. – Sara Berg (AMA Wire) 
Fitness: Runners are on the path to a longer life – Jill Barekr (Montreal Gazette)
Why you feel tired all the time – Hannah Nichols (Medical News Today)
NIH Preps National Launch of “All of Us” Precision Medicine Biobank – The program ultimately aims to collect clinical, lifestyle, and genomic data from at least one million diverse participants over the next few years to advance the development of precision medicine. – Jessica Kent (Health IT Analytics)
LIFESTYLE ARTICLES
Forty Percent of Cancer is Preventable – February is National Cancer Prevention Month. Fortunately, for all times of the year, there are some basic lifestyle interventions and behavior modifications that can help to prevent some types of cancer.
Working to Keep (More than) a Million Hearts Healthy – More than 50 years after the first Heart Month, heart disease remains the leading cause of death for men and women. Now we're seeing rising rates of controllable risk factors in younger adults.
Cold Weather Has a Chilling Influence on Heart Attack and Stroke – There is a clear seasonal increase of adverse cardiovascular and stroke events during the winter. When advising patients to remain active, clinicians may want to consider this 5-step lifestyle medicine assessment framework.
The Holiday Weight Gain is Real and Persistent – The average holiday weight gain is just over 1 pound. The bad news: that gain isn't reversed when the weather warms, contributing to long-term gain. To counter persistent weight gain, physicians can coach patients to adopt some of these lifestyle changes.
OPPORTUNITIES
CDC Public Health Grand Rounds
February 20; Atlanta, GA
CDC and Million Hearts® present a session on what Tennessee is doing to create healthy communities. Learn what practices can do to improve heart health by managing the ABCS, and find out what can be done to prevent a second heart attack. Million Hearts® 2022 will present its actionable priorities to get and keep people healthy. A live webcast of the event will be made available for those who cannot attend in person.
EVENTS
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
April 10; Washington, DC
The event will feature a talk from ACPM President Robert Carr as well as the work of the Cummins corporation, an ACPM Corporate Roundtable member and Fortune 500 manufacturing company that is embracing lifestyle medicine as a relatively low-cost way to address the root causes of illness and improve their employees' health outcomes.
Society of Behavioral Medicine
April 11-14; New Orleans, LA
ACPM's Dani Pere will be presenting on lifestyle medicine and related topics.
National Commission on Correctional Health Care
April 21-24; Minneapolis, MN
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
May 8-11; Bethesda, MD
In addition to being an affiliate partner of the Total Worker Health program, ACPM is serving on the planning panel and will be a presenting partner for this event.
American College of Preventive Medicine
May 23-26; Chicago, IL
The Lifestyle Medicine and Precision Public Health track will examine the emerging science of personalized/precision medicine in regard to lifestyle medicine and precision public health. Sessions will cover topics such as food, exercise, mind-body medicine, and many more. Registration is now open and CME/MOC credits are available for attendees. Subscribe to receive email updates from ACPM about this and other events and news.
National Wellness Institute
June 18-20; Saint Paul, MN
ACPM's Dani Pere will be presenting on lifestyle medicine and related topics.
The Institute of Lifestyle Medicine / Spaulding Rehabilitation Network
June 22-23; Boston, MA
British Society of Lifestyle Medicine
June 23; Edinburgh, United Kingdom
ACPM / HHS
July 16-17; Washington, DC
Open to health professionals and patients from all walks of life, the Summit is a unique opportunity to explore the factors that influence health in the later years of life and contribute to how we approach aging in America. The focus will be on maximizing the health of all older adults through prevention strategies that encourage healthy lifestyles, planning for aging, and improving the use of preventive services. The deadline for abstract submission as been extended to February 12.
Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine
August 17-19; Brisbane, Australia
American College of Lifestyle Medicine
October 21-24; Indianapolis, IN
American Board of Lifestyle Medicine
October 25; Indianapolis, IN 
ACPM distributes lifestyle medicine news and updates each month.