Staff Writer
Changing policies that affect childhood obesity take time, but members of the Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities steering committee believe the first six months of the initiative have been positive.
On Tuesday, members of Jacksonville Community Council Inc. heard some of the organization’s early efforts as part of its “Issues & Answers” series.
“It takes a lot of time and a lot of effort (to create change),” said Lowrie Ward, interim director of Healthy Jacksonville.
Ward, along with architect Melody Bishop and Karen Rieley, vice president of advancement at Lutheran Social Services, are members of the steering committee that wants to improve active living and healthy eating habits for children in low-income areas in Jacksonville.
The five-year, $44 million nationwide initiative is funded through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a national organization with a goal to help Americans leads healthier lives. The effort is planned at 70 sites across the country.
Since December, after the grant was awarded, the Jacksonville committee has prioritized policy changes to pursue. Rieley and Bishop discussed some of the healthy eating and environmental ideas with more than 30 people at the JCCI forum.
Rieley, focusing on healthy eating, discussed the need for more farmer’s markets in urban areas that could provide healthier options for children, along with the desire for partnerships with local farmers to provide those goods at lower costs.
In addition, the markets need to accommodate WIC and SNAP benefits for low-income families, with another goal to possibly double the value of such vouchers, she said.
“It’s about how good food gets to the community, who gets to access it and how,” said Rieley.
Bishop tackled the early policy goals the group will pursue to foster a more active everyday environment. The need for more bicycle-friendly and pedestrian-oriented areas along roads would encourage children to commute in a safer environment, she said.
In addition, communities and schools should consider agreements to allow school gyms and playgrounds to remain open longer, she said. Such an agreement, said Bishop, would allow communities and schools to share costs while providing needed services to encourage physical activity.
For street-scapes, policy changes will be pursued to require newly constructed streets to have pedestrian, bike and wheelchair access, along with finding funding to retrofit existing streets so they can accommodate all users.
“People want the opportunity to walk,” said Bishop, “and if you give it to them, they will use it.”
It was the second time Ward and others met with the community to discuss the effort’s early goals. While JCCI members were learning, so were the the steering committee members.
Ward said goals and ideas from the discussions can be incorporated in future planning.
“It’s been a good first six months,” said Ward. “I was impressed with the level of interest and all the great feedback.”
Obesity factors
• 70 percent of Duval County students score below average on the President’s Physical Fitness Assessment Test
• 62 percent of adults in Jacksonville are overweight or obese
• 24 percent of Jacksonville school children are overweight or obese
• Jacksonville is ranked the “least walkable” city in the nation, according to a 2008 Walk Score report
Source: Healthy Jacksonville
356-2466