Push for Blue Zones support continues

?We?re ready,? is the message city leaders are trying to convey to Blue Zone Project judges.

A seven-minute video of citizens engaging in area recreational activities submitted with Fairfield?s Blue Zone application is one way that message is demonstrated.

Another is through the ongoing registration of Fairfield and Jefferson County residents in support of the Blue Zones Project.

?We?re an entire community of individuals ? not just a city or county ? and health and wellness impacts all of us,? said Jefferson County Public Health Director Chris Estle-Tedrow.

She encouraged anyone throughout the county who hasn?t already registered to pledge support for the project at bluezonesproject.com. Anyone without Internet access may call Fairfield City Hall or return the form from page seven of today?s Ledger to city hall, and a clerk will complete the online registration for him or her.

Registration also may be completed by texting BZP to 772937.

All ages are able to register.

?I think we need to make our final push strong to show the decision-makers what a connected and committed community we are,? Estle-Tedrow said.

?I?ve been so impressed by the enthusiasm and the organization of our community to this stage that I feel we can easily push back up to the top three in the state with a little bit more effort to find those people who haven?t registered yet and inspiring them to get on board,? Mayor Ed Malloy said.

Fairfield was ranked third among communities vying to become one of the state?s first Blue Zone communities at the time the city?s application was submitted in early January.

With 30.62 percent of the population registered, Fairfield has fallen into seventh place in the online scoreboard.

St. Ansgar remains in first place with 62.28 percent of its citizens pledging support.

In terms of communities Fairfield?s size, the closest competitors are Spencer with 23.18 percent, Pella with 20.19 percent and Grinnell with 19.46 percent. These communities have moved up in the rankings since earlier this month.

?We want to ensure that we have the strongest possible application by pushing our citizen registration up as high as possible,? Malloy said.

The local Blue Zone team is using social media to promote the project and engaging students, staff and faculty at both local high schools to encourage registration. Additionally, members are approaching local businesses to connect with employees.

?We feel we have a very strong application that reflects a lot of the health and wellness infrastructure. It includes the [Let?s Go] JeffCo wellness coalition?s strategic plan. It also defines our readiness as a community,? Malloy said. ?I believe that this registration process of citizens is also a part of preparing the community for engagement in Blue Zone activity if we are selected one of the three finalists.?

Fifty-four communities applied for the Blue Zones project. The selection of 10 communities to participate in site visits will be announced Feb. 10.

Site visits will take place between Feb. 27 and March 16, and three cities will be chosen as demonstration cities in May. The Blue Zones Project is a collaboration of Wellmark and Healthways to ignite a community-by-community movement to improve the wellbeing of Iowa communities through permanent environment and policy changes to improve the emotional, physical and social health of residents, which should result in lower health care cost trends, higher productivity and increased economic viability.

The Blue Zones Project is a main component of the Healthiest State Initiative, which is an initiative to make Iowa the healthiest state in the nation by 2016 as measured by the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index.