You want to eat healthy foods, but your office vending machine offers only sweets and high fat snack chips. Maybe you’d consider walking to do errands instead of driving if only your neighborhood had sidewalks.

“Leading a healthy life requires making good choices,” says Colleen Doyle, MS, RD, director of nutrition and physical activity at the American Cancer Society. “Unfortunately, the communities in which we live, work, and go to school can make this difficult.”

The American Cancer Society has issued a call for communities to remove any barriers or policies that prevent people from enjoying a healthy lifestyle. The ACS Recommendation for Community Action include:

Communities should work together to create a healthy environment where everyone has access to healthy food choices and safe places to be active.

• Increase access to healthful foods in schools, worksites, and communities.
• Provide safe, enjoyable, and accessible environments for physical activity in schools, and for transportation and recreation in communities.

Many worksites and communities have created environments that support good health habits on a daily basis. Their successes, along with guidance from public policy experts, can help people make positive changes in their own communities.

Help couldn't come at a better time. Nearly two-thirds of Americans are now overweight or obese and the rates are still rising. Heart disease, cancer, and diabetes—all lifestyle related—claim hundreds of thousands of lives every year.

In the workplace – With more than 130 million Americans working, many people spend the majority of their days in the office. Employers can offer healthy food options in the vending machines and cafeteria, inexpensive access to a gym, and work-based health programs like the American Cancer Society'sActive for Life.

One person can make a difference in their work environment with the following ideas:

• Start a walking club at lunch, before work, or afterward.
• Organize a team for local runs, fundraising walks, or a corporate challenge event.
• Find speakers for noontime seminars on nutrition, fitness, or weight loss.
• Add healthful snacks to the menu for company events. Try baked chips/pretzels instead of regular chips, a fresh fruit or veggie tray, and frozen yogurt with fruit toppings instead of ice cream sundaes for a celebration.

In the community – With rapid urban and suburban growth, parks and recreation facilities are quickly disappearing, taking away prime places to exercise. Voice your concerns by voting to preserve parks and green space.

Make change happen more quickly by:

• Starting a community watch group to improve safety for walkers and bikers, and especially children. Most people say that safety is a barrier to being physically active.
• Encouraging local planning boards for more sidewalks, crosswalks, and traffic lights to make walking safe in your neighborhood.
• Supporting restaurants in your area that serve healthy food options and offer calorie counts.
• Supporting local farmers' markets.

In schools – Many schools don’t require health and physical education classes and some cut recess to spend more time in the classroom. Talk to the school board about making health education a priority, offering healthy foods and beverages, and requiring P.E. classes.

Take the lead by:

• Starting a school health council.
• Bringing healthy treats for birthday and other parties in school.
• Asking your child's teacher to establish an "informal policy" about foods brought in for parties. For example, fruit will always be available; 100% juice (or water) will be served instead of fruit drinks.
• Proposing different school fund-raisers that involve items other than candy or other foods of low nutritional value..

Find more information and free handbooks about community nutrition and exercise programs online or by calling the American Cancer Society at 1-800-ACS-2345.