The North
Carolina State Alliance of YMCAs has been selected to participate in the Y’s Statewide
Pioneering Healthier Communities (PHC) – an initiative aimed at addressing the
childhood obesity epidemic through policy, sytems and environmental change. The
North Carolina State Alliance of YMCAs is one of 14 to receive funds from YMCA
of the USA, which was recently awarded nearly $7.9 million from the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to expand the Statewide PHC initiative from six
states to a total of 21 states. The focus is on states with high rates of
childhood obesity.
Launched in 2009 with a $6.8
million grant from the RWJF, Statewide PHC addresses the childhood obesity
epidemic through policy and environmental changes at the community and state
level. Through Statewide PHC, the Y convenes state and community leaders to work
together to implement strategies that support healthy living.
“The Y and the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation have a mutual commitment to ensuring our nation’s children
grow to be healthy, happy and strong,” said YMCA of the USA President and Chief
Executive Officer Neil Nicoll. “Our work together over the past three years has
resulted in community- and state-level changes that will help children and
their families live healthier lives for years to come. We are grateful to be
able to continue this important relationship.”
According to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health and Nutrition Examination
Survey, as of 2010, 16.9 percent of our nation’s children and adolescents aged two
to 19 years old were obese. More than 2/3 adults in North Carolina are
overweight or obese. An estimated 30% of children ages 1 – 17 in North Carolina
are overweight or obese.
“The YMCA of Western North
Carolina began implementing PHC programs addressing childhood obesity in 2007,
with increasingly positive results,” said Paul Vest, President and CEO, YMCA of
Western North Carolina. “This is a great
opportunity to see our local PHC efforts expanded to the state level.”
Within 37 communites in six
states, the Y’s Statewide PHC has advanced over 2,300 strategies and changes to
tackle this growing health crisis. To date, these strategies and changes have
impacted up to 2.3 million lives.
These communities have implemented
strategies that include: helping families put healthier food on the table by
bringing fresh fruits and vegetables to neighborhoods where there are no
healthy food options; giving parents peace of mind by making safe walking
routes to schools possible; helping to keep a generation of kids healthier by
working with schools to increase physical education and physical activity
during the school day or by working with afterschool programs to provide
additional opportunities outside the school day for physical activity.
“The Y is really
good at energizing communities and empowering them to tackle comprehensive
policy approaches,” said John Govea, JD, MPA, senior program officer at RWJF. “As
we all strive to reverse childhood obesity by 2015, the Y’s collaborative
approach, which helps turn local innovations into statewide efforts, will be
critical.”
Statewide PHC is part of the
Y’s Healthier Communities Initiatives. In more than 220 communities across
the nation, Ys are working in collaboration with other community leaders on an
intentional effort to ensure that healthy living is within reach of the people
who live in those communities.
Learn more about the Y’s
Healthier Communities Initiatives at www.ymca.net/healthier-communities.
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