After learning that kids in Rosedale were at a high risk for childhood obesity, the Rosedale Development Association (RDA) decided it was time to do something about it. They learned that the community wanted more trails so they hired an expert who developed plans for a hike & bike nature trail to connect the community to parks and other key spots. With support from various groups and the local government, the RDA built over 2.3 miles of nature trail, all at a minimal expense. Families and children in the community are already benefitting from the trail and the group continues expanding the Rozarks trail network.
The Issue of Physical Activity in the Neighborhood
Awareness: The Rosedale Development Association (RDA), a Kansas City, Kan., non-profit community development ...
Hollin Meadows Elementary School, part of the Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia, has dedicated leaders and parents who value student health. A few years ago, they started a vegetable garden. Since then, thanks to the leadership of parent Shawn Akard, the school has: developed more gardens; brought in an “outdoor education coordinator” to oversee the gardens and programming; and helped students learn to grow and value new healthy produce.
The Issue of Nutritious School Food
Awareness: Shawn Akard, a PTA member and mother of a student at Hollin Meadows Elementary School in Alexandria, Va., appreciated the healthy changes going on in her district, Fairfax County Public Schools (23% Latino). She wanted to get involved. Learn: Around 2006, she talked with other ...
What good is physical activity if you fuel up with junk food and sugary drinks? One leader in Arlington County, Va., realized that the absence of healthy drink and snack options at parks and public buildings was sending an unclear message to the community about the importance of proper nutrition for an active lifestyle. With overwhelming community support, he drove good-for-you options into vending machines in county-owned property and local schools. This created places that weave both nutrition and physical activity into the fabric of neighborhood health.
The Lack of Healthy Food in the Neighborhood
Families in Arlington County, Va., come from many backgrounds. Walter Tejada, an Arlington County Board Member and two-time County Board chair, moved to the U.S. from El Salvador ...
What happens when youth are given the opportunity to lead their classmates toward a healthier school environment? The results might just amaze you! Teens involved in the 20-20 Leadership program at JC Harmon High School, a 58% Latino school in Kansas City, Kan., learned about the county’s high obesity rates—and they decided to do something about it. They developed plans for a healthy hub at Harmon High and later came up with the win-for-all solution of developing an outdoor fitness trail on school grounds. Now the school has a half-mile fitness trail and students plan to continue enhancing fitness opportunities by installing outdoor exercise equipment along the trail.
The Lack of Physical Activity in the Neighborhood
Awareness: D’Angelo Hicks was a junior at Harmon High ...
A hospital is a place for healing and promoting health for new moms. However, many hospitals across the country still offer a wide range of sugary drinks in vending machines, gift shops, and cafeterias. One hospital in Boston used a beverage policy to not only help patients make healthy drink choices, but also hospital administration, staff, patients’ families, and the local community.
The Obesity Crisis
Dorchester is a community in Boston, Mass., where almost 20% of residents are Latino. Many of Dorchester’s low-income patients get their medical care at Carney Hospital, a member of Steward Health Care, the largest fully integrated community care organization in New England, and a teaching hospital for nearby Tufts University School of Medicine, said Bill Howland, the ...
Kids in East Harlem (El Barrio) were in great need of physical activity programing and safe places to play. Alex Sabater and Deborah Quinones wanted to change that so they teamed up to create Young Bucks Sports, a non-profit aimed at preventing childhood obesity through teaching the sport and tradition of stickball to youth. Now Young Bucks Sports offers multiple activities to youth in Harlem for free, including: a summer stickball institute, pop-up playgrounds, a march to prevent obesity, and an annual festival with activities aimed at preventing obesity in the community.
The Physical Inactivity and Obesity Crisis
Awareness: Alex Sabater loves stickball and loves to share the same with others in New York City (NYC). The game is a modified version of baseball that uses a ...
During the school day, lunch time is a chance for busy students to take a break, relax with friends, and refuel. Refueling with healthy foods and drinks is vital. At two high schools in the Chicago suburbs, a concerned school board member saw a disconnect between the emphasis on healthy eating at lunch and the large sugary drink selection in cafeterias. The concern turned into a semester-long discussion between students, food services managers, and administrators that resulted in a new beverage policy for the school district that reduced the number of unhealthy drinks and marketed healthy ones in creative ways.
The Issue of Sugary Drinks
Awareness/Learn: The Latino student population is small—but rapidly growing—at Glenbrook High School District 225, which is commonly known as ...
Estrella Hernandez grew up in San Antonio, a predominantly Hispanic (63.2%) city with a 28.5% rate of obesity in its population of over 1.3 million people. When she was in middle school she began to take a look around her city and found that there was a big problem with obesity and overweight, especially with kids her age. She knew that there had to be a way to get her classmates and peers to become healthier, while still having fun. Estrella came up with the idea of an interactive mobile app she titled WeWalk, which combined active living, healthy eating, and gaming. As she worked with members of the San Antonio community she began to discover that together as a city they could change the obesity epidemic while having fun through exercise.
The Problem of Physical ...
Counselors at New Britain High School were concerned about the future of teens who were not passing PE and risked not graduating. Fortunately, a local nonprofit taught a group of teens how to take photos and use them to inspire action—a technique called photovoice. Their efforts helped unite the nonprofit, the New Britain YWCA, and New Britain High School, who together pushed to establish an after-school PE credit recovery program. Now, girls are getting the physical education they need to lead a healthy lifestyle, and the ongoing collaboration between community organizations has led to the development of a new hub for health called The House of Teens (HOT).
Examining the Health of the Local Community
Awareness/Learn: The 37% Latino town of New Britain, Conn., was struggling ...
