Moving toward wellness

AMES, Iowa – A five-year initiative in six Iowa counties uses community partnerships, policy changes, and research to help residents live healthier lives. The Iowa State University Foundation caught up with assistant professor of community health and nutrition, Lyndi Buckingham-Schutt, to talk about her leadership with the program Leveraging Activities and Partnerships to Address Obesity in Iowa (LEAP).

As a dietetics student nearly a decade ago Buckingham-Schutt experienced an aha moment that reframed her approach to helping people live healthier lives.

“While working with patients in a clinical setting on the South Side of Chicago, I discovered that helping people make healthy choices isn’t as simple as sharing knowledge,” she said. “Many challenges — like accessibility and affordability of nutritious food — require changes to systems, policies, and environments.”

That insight now guides Buckingham-Schutt’s work at Iowa State University. Through ISU Extension and Outreach, she helps lead Iowa LEAP, partnering with six Iowa communities to tackle obesity by expanding access to healthy food and creating environments that support active living.

“We want to make the healthy choice the easy choice to support sustained, long-term change,” Buckingham-Schutt said.