Join us for a family winter wellness challenge from January 9-April 6, 2023!

The family winter wellness challenge is a 12-week challenge to help your family to increase movement, encourage healthy eating, and incorporate other wellness practices into your daily life.  Building healthy habits as a family, including with children in the household, can help create a lifetime of healthy habits for everyone.

Each week our staff will send out a short weekly newsletter with information on the week’s topic, share a video of a healthy recipe, and set a weekly challenge to improve eating or physical activity habits.  We will encourage physical activity throughout the challenge with a gift of a pedometer to each person in the family and physical activity tracking throughout the 12 weeks.

Members will be invited to a private Facebook group to encourage accountability, and two-way conversation and help improve a sense of community during this challenge. We are all working together!

It’s a 12-week commitment that is free to you! This challenge is for everyone of all ages, we want your family and children to join the challenge with you to all work together to work toward building healthy habits.

Each person will get a pedometer to help track steps and encourage physical activity.  We will post videos with exercise ideas and recipes to give some easy and simple ideas for your family.

If you have any questions, call the health department at 660-395-4711 and ask to speak with Erin or Stacy.

To sign up, come into the Health Department or complete our form online: https://www.maconmohealth.org/familywellness/

No one has time to stop their daily lives from respiratory illnesses, like flu, RSV, covid, and pneumonia.  We all have friends to see, holidays to celebrate, sports to play, work, school, and more. Many viruses have vaccines available to help reduce your risk of contracting the illness, the severity of the disease, and the ability to spread the infection. Vaccines help protect you from these viruses, but also others around you.

Request an appointment or call to schedule an appointment at 660-395-4711.

Flu vaccines are available annually for ages 6 months and up.

• Flu vaccine: 6 months and up
• Flu Mist: Ages 2-49
• Flu Blok (quadravalent): ages 18 and up
• High Dose Flu Vaccine: ages 65 and up

Safe Sitter

Safe Sitter® prepares students in grades 6-8 to be safe when they’re home alone, watching younger siblings, or babysitting. Students learn life-saving skills such as how to rescue someone who’s choking and helpful information like what to do if there’s severe weather. The lessons are filled with fun activities and role-playing exercises. Students even get to use CPR manikins to practice choking rescue and CPR!

Skills Your Child Will Learn

Safety Skills: Students learn how to prevent unsafe situations and what to do when faced with dangers such as power failures or weather emergencies.

Child Care Skills: Students learn tips to manage behavior that will help them stay in control of themselves and the children in their care. Students also learn the ages and stages of child development, as well as practice diapering.

First Aid & Rescue Skills: Learning skills such as choking rescue and CPR is often students’ favorite part of the class. Students also learn a system to help them assess and respond to injuries and illnesses.

Life & Business Skills: The ability to screen jobs, discuss fees, and greet employers will set students up for success now and in the future. Students practice these skills through various role play.

Upcoming Classes

Monday, November 21st from 9 am – 3 pm.

The cost is $30 for registration or $40 if they want a bag with babysitting supplies.  Call to register at 660-395-4711 – the registration form and payment is due the week before the class to secure your spot.  There are 8 seats available for each class.

Classes will be at the Macon County Health Department.  Parents or representatives are asked to come at 2:45 for pick up to watch the graduation ceremony for your child.

The Macon County Health Department announces a contract continuance to provide WIC services for federal fiscal year 2023 has been signed with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is a special supplemental nutrition program providing services to pregnant women, new mothers, infants, and children up to their 5th birthday based on nutritional risk and income eligibility. The primary services provided are healthy, supplemental food, risk assessment, nutrition education and counseling, breastfeeding promotion and support, health screening and referrals to health care. To be eligible for WIC, applicants must have an income of less than or equal to 185% of the poverty level and be at nutritional risk. Migrant families are also eligible.

Income guidelines can be found at www.maconmohealth.org/wic.

WIC supplemental food packages are specially chosen to provide foods high in protein, iron, calcium, and vitamins A and C. Eligible women and children receive fortified milk and cheese, eggs, whole grain bread products, hot or cold cereals, 100% fruit juices, and fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables. The WIC program recommends breastfeeding, provides breastfeeding support, baby foods, and infant cereal. For women who cannot or choose not to breastfeed, infants may receive supplemental, iron-fortified formula. WIC participants obtain their foods by using their eWIC cards for specific items at participating local grocery stores and pharmacies.

Studies confirm that pregnant women who enroll in WIC during the early months of pregnancy have fewer low birth weight babies, experience fewer infant deaths, see the doctor earlier in pregnancy and eat healthier.

WIC is administered in Macon County by the Macon County Health Department. Persons interested in applying or who are in need of more information should contact the Macon County Health Department at 660-395-4711. WIC clinics are offered at 503 N. Missouri St. Macon, MO 63552 on Mondays and Tuesdays from 7:45 am – 5:30 pm.

In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.

Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.

To file a program discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online at: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/USDA-OASCR%20P-Complaint-Form-0508-0002-508-11-28-17Fax2Mail.pdf, from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by:

mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights

1400 Independence Avenue, SW

Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; or

fax: (833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or

email: program.intake@usda.gov

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.