Release Date: January 12, 2010
Contact: Christine Patmon, Metro Health Public Relations Manager, 207-8638
San Antonio One of 41 Sites Selected for National Program to Fight Childhood Obesity
Metro Health Receives Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Grant to Bring Healthy Foods to Neighborhoods, Encourage Restaurants to Offer Healthier Choices, Ensure Safe Street Design for Walking and Biking, and Increase Access to Outdoor Recreational Facilities
Metro Health has been awarded a $360,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to improve opportunities for physical activity and access to healthy foods for children and families in San Antonio’s west side. Based on a rigorous selection process that drew more than 500 proposals from across the country, San Antonio is one of 41 sites selected for the RWJF Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities (HKHC) initiative.
As a result of this funding opportunity, Metro Health has formed the Healthy Active San Antonio Partnership, a coalition of community leaders working to reduce childhood obesity on the west side of San Antonio, an area inhabited by more than 106,000 residents. This area of the city experiences disproportionate socioeconomic disadvantages, which often translate into poorer health status for children. An assessment of high schools in one district that overlaps this area showed that nearly 40% of students were either overweight or obese.
The partnership will encourage active living and healthy eating within the community by expanding its use of schools and other public facilities for after-hours physical activity; implementing the Complete Streets concept, which creates an environment more conducive to walking and cycling, in the target area for new development and redevelopment projects; and encouraging restaurants to make more healthy choices available on their menus through incentives and technical support.
HKHC partners include City entities such as Parks & Recreation, Planning & Development Services, and the Community Development Advisory Committee, as well as The Bexar County Community Health Collaborative, San Antonio-Bexar County Metropolitan Planning Organization, San Antonio Restaurant Association, Texas Public Radio, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio – School of Nursing, University of Texas School of Public Health, VIA Metropolitan Transit, and Westside Development Corporation.
“This grant is unique in that it extends beyond outreach and education,” said Dr. Bryan Alsip, project director for the San Antonio Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities initiative and Metro Health assistant director. “We have joined forces with non-traditional public health partners with the goal of implementing effective community health interventions through sustainable policy and environmental changes. This approach gives the community additional resources, making it easier for individuals to adjust their daily practices and to make healthier decisions.”
“To reverse this epidemic, communities are going to have to rally around their kids and provide the opportunities they need to be healthy,” said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A., president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “Through this project, the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District and its partners are doing what it takes to make sure children lead better lives.”
Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities is a $33 million national program and RWJF’s largest investment to date in community-based solutions to childhood obesity. With nine leading sites chosen in late 2008, the program now spans 50 communities from Seattle to Puerto Rico. All are targeting improvements in local policies and their community environment—changes that research indicates could have the greatest impact on healthier eating, more active living and obesity prevention. Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities is a cornerstone of RWJF’s $500 million commitment to reverse the country’s childhood obesity epidemic by 2015.
The 40 other cities and regions just announced as Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities sites are:
Benton County, OR
Boone and Newton Counties, AR
Buffalo, NY
Caguas, PR
Charleston, WV
Chattanooga, TN
Cook County, GA
Cuba, NM
Denver, CO
Desoto, Marshall and Tate Counties, MS
El Paso, TX
Fitchburg, MA
Flint, MI
Grant County, NM
Greenville, SC
Hamilton County, OH
Houghton County, MI
Houston, TX
Jackson, MS
Jacksonville, FL
Jefferson County, AL
Kane County, IL
Kansas City, MO
Kingston, NY
Knox County, TN
Lake Worth, Greenacres and Palm Springs, FL
Milledgeville, GA
Milwaukee, WI
Moore and Montgomery Counties, NC
Multnomah County/Portland, OR
Nash and Edgecombe Counties, NC
New Orleans, LA
Omaha, NE
Philadelphia, PA
Phoenix, AZ
Rancho Cucamonga, CA
Rochester, NY
San Felipe Pueblo, NM
Spartanburg County, SC
Watsonville and Pajaro Valley, CA
All were selected because of strong vision, partnership and a commitment to make lasting change in their communities. The new program grants will continue through June 2013.
About the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District (Metro Health)
The mission of Metro Health is to provide leadership and services for San Antonio and Bexar County to prevent illness and injury, promote healthy behaviors, and protect against health hazards. Metro Health’s vision is optimal health for our communities and our environment.
About Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities
Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), advances community-based solutions that will help reverse the childhood obesity epidemic. It focuses on changing policies and environments to support active living and healthy eating among children and families. The program places special emphasis on reaching children who are at highest risk for obesity on the basis of income, race/ethnicity and geographic location. It will support RWJF’s efforts to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic in the United States by 2015.
The Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities national program office is housed at Active Living By Design, part of the North Carolina Institute for Public Health at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Established in 2001 as an RWJF national program, Active Living By Design now serves funders and partnerships across the country that are fostering community-led change to build a culture of active living and healthy eating.
About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change. For more than 35 years, the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org.
