The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) today recognized leaders in nutrition and physical activity at the 2017 Iowa Governor’s Conference on Public Health in Des Moines. The leaders must emulate the IDPH Bureau of Nutrition and Health Promotion vision of “an Iowa where healthy living is accessible, valued and supported by all.” The winners must strive to make the bureau’s mission a reality by “ensuring that Iowans have the opportunity to live a healthy lifestyle by providing education and resources, building partnerships and supporting communities.”

Reported cases of sexually transmitted diseases continue to rise in Iowa, with a 75 percent increase in gonorrhea cases from 2013 to 2016. Preliminary 2016 data show chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis all increased over the previous year, mirroring national trends.

In 2015, the Iowa Legislature authorized the movement of the Iowa Health Information Network (IHIN) into a nonprofit status, outside of state government. Following a bidding process by the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH), the Hielix/Koble Group (HKG) application was selected to take over stewardship of the non-profit IHIN. HKG has more than a decade of hands-on experience forming and operating HIEs in multiple states and officially began stewardship of the IHIN today, March 31, 2017.

Most people with prediabetes don’t know they have it; in fact, more than one in three Iowa adults have prediabetes, which means they are at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes. According to the Iowa Department of Public Health, people with type 2 diabetes are at higher risk for heart disease, stroke, and serious diabetes-related complications.

Health issues topping the list in the 2017-2021 plan include obesity, nutrition, and physical activity; mental health, illness, and suicide; and substance abuse.