Success Story: Lucero Elementary School Hosts Second Annual Family Fitness Night

On the evening of May 21^st, Lucero Elementary School in the Bronx held its second Family Fitness Night since the school opened in 2013. The event featured physical activity stations, a nutrition education workshop led by Corbin Hill and New Settlement Apartments, tastings from the SchoolFood Alternative Menu facilitated by George Edwards of Garden to Café, and a variety of healthy food samples for students and their families.

The event was organized by Lucero’s School Wellness Council, spearheaded by Ms. Muia, the PE teacher. The school has won Gold for the Excellence in School Wellness Award for the past two years, and this year Ms. Muia was recognized as runner up for School Wellness Champion of the Year. She was also chosen to participate in the NYC Department of Education’s new PE Focus Grant, an opportunity for select PE teachers to participate in professional development and promote best practices for physical education among other schools in their district.

Family Fitness Night was the culminating event of Fitness Week—a school-wide effort to promote physical activity among the student body. Each day of the week fostered awareness around a different activity, such as Move Around Monday and Touch Your Toes Tuesday. Regular announcements made over the intercom reminded students to get up and stay active throughout the school day. Since regular physical activity is linked with improved academic performance in addition to better health outcomes, we hope other schools will follow Lucero’s lead in providing more opportunities for students to be physically active.

Reducing Obesity: Not Simple But Doable

Photo via k lachshand
Eating these is one way to reduce obesity.

James R. Knickman President & CEO at the New York StateHealth Foundation  asked the million dollar question in his Huffington Post piece, “What's Workingto Reduce Obesity?” In his post Mr. Knickman reveals that researchers from Drexel University studied a range of experiments aimed at reducing obesity, assessing how effective those strategies were. Researchers concluded that measures such as improving sidewalks and banning trans fats had strong impact but other approaches such as restaurants posting nutrition information had very little, to no impact.

So what does work to reduce obesity?

Mr. Knickman believes reducing obesity comes down to the following points:

- Better and more research will provide a better sense of the impact of various strategies reducing obesity in communities

- Different populations require different strategies so research can determine which approaches are most effective for high risk populations

- Seek out the economic and social benefits of interventions

- Success happens when communities and neighborhoods make it easy and affordable to be physically active and eat healthy foods, rather than one method such as banning trans fats

- All these healthy components add up to create “a neighborhood value, a point of pride” and becomes a part of the culture.

Mr. Knickman asks, “What is the best bang for your buck?” Here at the Bronx Health REACH Coalition we have launched the Towards A Healthier Bronx initiative using policy, systems and environmental improvements that increase access to healthy food, healthy beverages and opportunities for physical activity for over 75% of 675,215 residents residing in 12 high need South Bronx zip codes. Many public health campaigns rely heavily on clinical evidence, but fail to research the motivating factors relevant to that audience. To avoid this our campaign emphasizes actionable health behaviors.

Led by the Institute for Family Health, Bronx Health REACH was formed in 1999 to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health outcomes in diabetes and heart disease in African American and Latino communities in the southwest Bronx. Since then the Bronx Health REACH coalition has grown to include over 70 community-based organizations, 47 faith-based organizations, and health care providers. Bronx Health REACH serves as a national model of community empowerment demonstrating ways to build healthier communities by promoting healthy life-style behaviors.

The plan behind Towards A Healthier Bronx is:

- Increasing the number of bodegas and restaurants involved in incentive programs offering and promoting affordable healthy foods

- Increasing the number of farm stands making healthy food more affordable and available to the community

- Increasing the number of public and charter elementary schools emphasizing nutrition education and supporting related school policies

Partnering with bodega, deli and restaurant owners by providing them with training and education makes these initiatives not only a healthy benefit for their customers, but an economic benefit for the business owner. Encouraging chefs to attend monthly trainings on healthy food preparation results in offering patrons 2 to 3 healthier menu options. As New York City neighborhood demographics change, the restaurants and bodegas can now more easily adapt to the healthy choices their new customers are seeking resulting in those restaurant and bodega owners seeing more customers come into their stores and restaurants and gaining more revenue.

Mr. Knickman also states, “So if menu labeling isn't working for the target population--as the Drexel research and other studies suggest--we need to find and test other ways to make the healthy choice the easy choice.” Euny C. Lee, Evaluator and Policy Analyst at Bronx Health REACH agrees with Mr. Knickman citing a New York University study, “Calorie Labeling Has Barely Any Effecton Teenagers' or Parents' Food Purchases” which revealed that posting calories for food items at fast food restaurants had no impact on what consumer purchased.

Euny has moderated several focus groups with our faith-based coalition members to determine which types of messages encourage healthy behavior such as healthy eating and physical activity. Findings reveal educating the community about daily calorie intake to be important as most were not aware that you should consume no more than 2000 calories a day to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Messaging matters as well. Signs and posters promoting a health benefit rather than a scare tactic elicit more positive behavior changes. Interventions have to be customized to a specific demographic/ethnic group so that it is culturally and linguistically understandable and appropriate. Other results include social support such as having a friend or family member who you are accountable to for your actions to reach the desired health goals.

Focus group members felt this ad was not accurate saying the soda bottle should be bigger and would be more effective if other ailments such as diabetes and heart disease that causes stroke were listed.

Focus group members felt the above ad was actually a real advertisement selling juice boxes and a better message would have been the child drinking from a water bottle.

But the question still remains. “What is doable in the fight to reduce obesity?” Bronx Health REACH can point to a few projects. A city wide campaign was created to serve only low-fat and fat-free milk rather than whole milk at New York City public schools. Bronx Health REACH educated policy makers, Coalition members and residents from the community about obesity and the benefits of reduced fat milk. This led to the New York City Public school system adopting the policy and impacting over 1.1 million children in 1,579 schools as well as a model for public schools in 15 other states.

I don't know if the day will ever arrive where the only thing one needs to do is take a miracle pill that sheds those excess pounds without any physical effort while drinking a large vanilla milkshake every day. What I do know is these healthy initiatives together will begin slowing the overweight/obesity epidemic we now face.

Connecting Bronx Communities to Local Farmers Markets

August 2nd through 8th marked the 16thannual USDA Farmers Market Week. Farmers Market Week is an official celebration of farmers markets across the country, connecting consumers to local fresh, seasonal, and healthy produce. In the New York tri-state area, August and September is peak harvest time. Regional bounty includes beets, broccoli, fresh herbs, tomatoes, peaches, plums and much more.

This month, with the bounty of farm produce available at local farmers markets Bronx Health REACH will launch a new campaign to promote Bronx-based farmers markets. This campaign, which is part of a city-wide collaboration of the Partnership for a Healthier NYC, seeks to increase access to farmers markets.

The campaign’s intent is to connect Bronx communities to local farmers markets. These markets are an important source for healthy eating, and improved health in general. The local farmers markets serve as hubs to supply and support increased consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.

There are 29 farmers markets in the Bronx. To learn more, check out the Bronx Farmers’ Markets map. Next year we anticipate that that number will grow to 30, through collaborative efforts led by Harvest Home, Bronx Health REACH and the Melrose Community.

The campaign to promote farmers markets will focus on raising the awareness that farmers markets are accessible to all. As part of the campaign development process, community coalitions from the Bronx reviewed materials to determine their effectiveness in communicating that message of the accessibility of farmers markets.

In offering feedback, residents expressed that farmers markets accessibility pertains to their location as well as offering good value and prices for high quality produce. In New York, farmers’ markets accept a variety of payments including: WIC FMNP coupons, EBT, SNAP, Health Bucks, cash, debit and credit cards.

So, where is your nearest Farmer’s Market? To find out:

• Check the maponline
• Text “sogood” to 877877
• OR, call 311.

Making Strides in Achieving PE for All

For supporters of school wellness, the link between health and academics is apparent. We know that when students are not able to lead healthy lives, it creates both learning and health disparities in low-income communities such as the South Bronx. In New York City, similar to what is happening across the country, schools are faced with the challenge of making sure that all students get adequate physical education. To determine if this is happening, information about New York City’s physical education program should be made public.

The Phys Ed for All Coalition,  of which Bronx Health REACH  is a founding member, advocates for policy, systems and environmental changes that will provide more opportunities for NYC students to receive quality physical education. On November 4th, the coalition celebrated Mayor Bill de Blasio signing into law Intro 644, requiring the New York City Department of Education to report on how much physical education is provided to students in each New York City public school. This is a first of its kind in the country. And as such, one of the PE 4 All Coalition members – the American Heart Association – is aiming to replicate this work nationally. The inaugural report is scheduled to be released publicly by August 2016.

In addition to the required reporting, the New York City Council has added $6.6 million to the New York City Department of Education budget over the next 3 years for the “PE Works Program” to cover central staff for the program, to hire 50 new phys ed teachers, and 4 PE instructors (each covering 2 districts throughout the City). While this all represents very important development in efforts to improve the quantity and quality of PE, we are concerned about the short life span of the funding. By year 4 of the program, schools are expected to fund the PE teachers on their own. How are schools supposed to fund an adequate number of PE teachers for all schools, resolve the problem of overcrowded gyms shared by co-located schools, and schedule adequate time for PE into the school day?

In response to these challenges Bronx Health REACH and one of it’s partners, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, have been educating parents to be better advocates for their children, and raising more awareness about the links between health, physical education, and children’s behavior and academic performance. In addition,the PE 4 All Coalition members have suggested such creative responses to the challenges as: training teachers to provide physical education in small spaces, implementing active recess, using hallway space for physical activity breaks for students who need a break from sitting in the classroom; training school staff to establish wellness councils that can implement wellness policies and take on Active Design projects ensuring that health education and physical education are aligned in ways that lead to demonstrable changes in student behaviors; making physical education a more substantive part of the Principal’s Checklist; and finding ways to incentivize schools that are able to achieve physical education goals through the NYC Excellence in School Wellness Awards.

Bronx Health REACH through its recent Healthy Schools NY  grant and its current Creating Healthy Schools and Communities grant is doing its part by training PE teachers to establish wellness councils and Comprehensive School Physical Activity  Programs. But this should not be the responsibility of outside groups. Making sure that all NYC students receive adequate physical education will ultimately require more financial support than currently allocated. The PE 4 All Coalition will continue to identify and propose solutions that make adequate, quality physical education available for all NYC students, and welcomes new participation in the efforts. Please join us. If you or your school would like to get involved, contact Kelly Moltzen at kmoltzen@institute.org or Erin George at egeorge@nylpi.org.

El Diario Features Healthy Bodegas

Photo: Gerard Romo/El Diario

Hylonkys LaChapelle, owner of Gerard Minimarket is participating in the Healthy Bodega Initiative.

The January 30, 2016 issue of El Diario featured an article about the Healthy Bodega Initiative, a partnership between Bronx Health REACH, The Bodega Association of the United States (ASOBEU), and the Hispanic Information and Telecommunications Network, Inc. (HITN). The article featured the owner of Gerard Minimarket, a bodega that participated in the August training, and featured conversations with  Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., ASOBEU President Ramon Murphy, and Bronx Health REACH Director Charmaine Ruddock.

Hylonkys LaChapelle, the owner of Gerard Minimarket located at 740 Gerard Avenue, Bronx, New York spoke of making changes to her bodega after attending the August training. She described re-arranging and moving the best looking apples and bananas to more prominent areas of shelf space.  The result is shoppers purchasing more fruits. “Now, two boxes of bananas (approximately 30 pounds of product) is sold in a matter of a day,” said LaChapelle.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. spoke about the #Not62 campaign (the Bronx is ranked as the least healthy of 62 of 62 counties in New York State) and how those healthy bodegas that participated in the August Healthy Bodega Training will now be a “part of the solution offering healthy alternatives to their customers.”

Charmaine Ruddock, Director of Bronx Health REACH provided background on how the training program emphasizes the importance of including healthy alternatives at the deli counter such as low fat cheese and low fat mayonnaise in sandwiches, and water offered rather than soda.

You can read the full article here.

The next two- day Healthy Bodega Training will be held on March 8th and March 9th from 5 to 9:30 p.m. If you know a bodega in your community that would benefit from this training, please contact Zulay at the Bodega Association at (212) 928-0252.