Grants aid local battle against obesity $511,000 lets a lean task force fatten its efforts to slim us down
A year-old obesity task force just got a $511,000 caloric boost.
This energy infusion will be used for healthy eating and fitness programs aimed at area residents who have lower income or are considered under served.
"Oh my gosh, be careful what you wish for," said Lynn Smithdeal, chair of the Cape Fear Healthy Carolinians Obesity Prevention Committee. "Now the work starts."
According to the 2005 update of the state's Health Profile of North Carolinians, 24 percent of adults were obese in 2003, almost double the 1990 rate. The state tips the scale above the United States average, which was 22.8 percent. The numbers have since increased.
Children mirror these statistics, and the alarm has been raised nationally that this just might be the first generation whose life expectancy is lower than their parents' generation.
Smithdeal's committee and some 30 local organizations - including health groups, large employers and county and city administrators - have met to come up with a plan of attack. Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, the group decided that reaching adults in the workplace, children in schools and families in their neighborhoods would have the most impact. All they needed was the funding.
Now they've got it.
Here's a sampling of what two grants - $286,000 over two years from the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust and $225,000 over three years from the Cape Fear Memorial Foundation - will pay for:
SALARIES of a community health educator and an obesity prevention initiative coordinator.
DAY-CARE initiative to educate home providers and children about fitness and nutrition.
YMCA nutritional, exercise and wellness programs in public housing neighborhoods for 200 youths.
Recess exercise equipment for New Hanover County elementary schools.
EVALUATION and peer health education programs by Wilmington Health Access for Teens for overweight middle school students.
BILINGUAL health educator to promote healthy eating and exercise among Hispanic parents and children.
ESTABLISHMENT of a community garden in one of the Wilmington Housing Authority developments.
Other initiatives the committee continues to work on include marking neighborhood walking trails and partnering with area restaurants to promote healthy menu items.
"We hope to change the look of the counties," Smithdeal said.
"We want to make New Hanover and Brunswick counties more exercise-friendly counties and more nutritionally aware."
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