LiveWell Chaffee

Chaffee County is situated at the base of the Collegiate Peaks in south central Colorado, encompassing Buena Vista, Poncha Springs, and Salida. This rural community’s population is 16,883 over 1,015 square miles, for a population density of 16 people per square mile. Chaffee County is invested in promoting healthy nutrition and physical activity to address the increasing prevalence of the obesity risk factors:

• 2004-2005 regional data from the Colorado Health Information Dataset indicates that 54.8 percent of people in the region are “overweight” and 17.4 percent of people in this same region are “obese” (CDPHE). 
• Chaffee County’s death rate due to cardiovascular disease is 251.8, which is significantly higher than the state rate of 221.4. This suggests the county is faced with higher levels of risk factors such as poor nutrition, low physical activity and obesity.
• The 2007 Colorado Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey indicates a strong correlation between income and obesity rates. In 2007, 11.7 percent of Chaffee County residents had an income below the poverty line compared to a statewide rate of 9.3 percent, and per capita wages were approximately $16,000 lower than the state average.
• In 2004, more than 60 percent of Salida middle school youth and 50 percent of high school youth reported taking zero days of physical education classes in the last week. Additionally, 25 percent of Salida middle school youth reported watching 3+ hours of television a night, almost 50 percent of the youth reported eating 0-3 fruit servings in the past week and 25 percent of youth reported drinking milk 0-3 times in the past week. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends 3 servings of milk and fruit per day. 

While policies, programs and initiatives have been initiated throughout the community, Chaffee County has work to do in preventing obesity and is committed to a pro-active approach.

Contact Information
Chaffee County Public Health
Jere Thomas
719.329.7234
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