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Clarksville designated a Healthier Tennessee Community

City leads Community wide effort to improve Health, Fitness

City of Clarksville - Clarksville, TNClarksville, TN –  Clarksville has earned the designation as a Healthier Tennessee Community for strong collaborative work to improve the health of local citizens.

The Governor’s Foundation for Health and Wellness makes the designation through its Healthier Tennessee Communities initiative, which drives better health by engaging local leaders and citizens to support physical activity, healthy eating and tobacco abstinence.

Members of the Mayor’s Fitness Council worked Friday to place HealthyClarksville.com stickers on 3,000 oranges that were distributed from the City of Clarksville’s float during the Clarksville Christmas Parade. Healthy Clarksville is an arm of the Fitness Council which helped Clarksville earn designation as a “Healthier TN Community.”
Members of the Mayor’s Fitness Council worked Friday to place HealthyClarksville.com stickers on 3,000 oranges that were distributed from the City of Clarksville’s float during the Clarksville Christmas Parade. Healthy Clarksville is an arm of the Fitness Council which helped Clarksville earn designation as a “Healthier TN Community.”

Locally, Clarksville Mayor Kim McMillan formed the Mayor’s Fitness Council, which joined with other agencies to develop events and activities.

“This was a great team effort by the City of Clarksville, our County Health Department, our public schools, Austin Peay State University and UT Extension,” Mayor Kim McMillan said. “This designation shows that our work building a healthier Clarksville is showing strong results.”

To be designated, communities must establish a wellness council, which locally became known as “Healthy Clarksville,” and develop sustainable community health-improvement programs that get results, which are tracked and measured.

Healthy Clarksville, local governments and agencies collaborated on these efforts to earn the designation:

  • The City’s Parks & Recreation Department promoted health and fitness programs and the downtown Farmers Market, where Montgomery County Health Department health educators passed out healthy food samples and recipes.
  • The Health Department introduced its Baby and Me Tobacco Free program and provided statistical analysis of local tobacco cessation programs.
  • Clarksville-Montgomery County Schools encouraged substantial use of GoNoodle, a series of fitness videos for children, in elementary classrooms.
  • APSU interns UT Extension staff helped workplaces and faith communities in Clarksville start wellness programs.

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and the Governor’s Foundation for Health and Wellness will celebrate Clarksville’s designation at a Nashville reception in January. The designation is for two years, and communities are responsible for maintaining or growing their efforts to renew the designation.

The Foundation is a non-profit corporation that brings together employers, insurers, hospitals, governments, schools and community organizations to help Tennesseans lead healthier lives.

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