Recent Stories
August 29, 2013
Respond, Inc. provides services for adults and children that touch almost every aspect of their lives from child care, a senior adult center, programs for homeless adults, rental housing and home ownership, youth services, employment, economic development, job training and associated programs that help people help themselves. Now with the introduction of a comprehensive wellness policy the organization has taken an important step to “provide every child with the opportunity to eat healthier and engage in more physical activity,” according to Wilbert Mitchell, Respond Inc.’s executive director. The organization is asking parents to join with them to “support the guidelines” and “follow the new policies, especially regarding healthy snacks, healthy lunch choices and healthy treats for celebrations.” The wellness policy is a textbook example of effective guidelines—comprehensive, instructive and easy to follow. All the bases are covered from nutrition standards for children and infants, eating environment and nutrition education. Parents […]
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August 29, 2013
With Breakfast in the Classroom, Camden City Public Schools is taking the lead in creating a healthy environment in its schools. Beginning this month, 14 schools will be providing free breakfast for all students in their classrooms. More schools are expected to be added throughout the year. The breakfast will contain recommended food groups—milk, whole grains, fruit. The menu could include yogurt parfaits, fresh fruit salads, scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, pancakes, Nutri-Grain Benefit Bars, French toast and breakfast muffins. Each school chooses its model, either breakfast served in the classroom by Food Service staff, or Grab n’ Go—bagged food served from a food cart. Breakfast will take about 10 minutes start to finish and Food Service has a system in place for delivery and clean up. Food will be served by Food Service staff, not by teachers. Breakfast should not interrupt or disrupt ongoing activities in the classroom; it’s more […]
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August 29, 2013
It’s not every day that more than 55,000 New Brunswick residents are encouraged to walk, skate, run, rollerblade or dance in the streets at the same time. However, on Sunday, October 6th from 10:00 am-3:00 pm the first New Brunswick Ciclovia will open more than three miles of streets to encourage people of all ages and abilities to be physically active. The free event is a community collaboration and partnership of the City of New Brunswick, New Brunswick Tomorrow, Johnson & Johnson and Rutgers University. The New Jersey Partnership for Healthy Kids-New Brunswick is also among the many partners that are actively participating in and leading financial support to the event. The goal is to promote active living for the entire community through open and car-free streets. Translated from Spanish to English as “bike way,” a Ciclovia can be described as a designated bike route or an event that opens […]
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August 29, 2013
September is National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. As kids head back to school, this national designation gives prominence and keeps children’s health and well-being at the forefront of policy discussions. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services asks that officials, communities and individuals “use this month to raise awareness about the obesity epidemic and show people how they can take action toward a solution—both at home and in the larger community.” Perhaps the best way to show how action can be taken is to reflect on policy change that has yielded both immediate results and also holds promise for continued positive outcomes over the longer term. Camden has a lot to celebrate in that area. Camden City Public Schools has adopted a district-wide wellness policy that has the potential to change the direction of nutrition and recreational activity for all Camden school children. Breakfast in the Classroom, one of […]
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August 17, 2013
Originally published in The South Jersey Times on NJ.com To the Editor: Last week the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) reported signs of significant progress in reversing the childhood obesity epidemic. Specifically, between 2008 and 2011, 18 states showed decreases in obesity rates for low-income preschoolers. Among these states, New Jersey recorded the second largest decrease. These are the children who have been at the highest risk for obesity and whose families have had the most limited chances to make healthy choices. It is a testament to all the work being done, by local groups like ours and national organizations like the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, headquartered right here in New Jersey, to promote healthier lifestyles for children. Since 2009, the New Jersey Partnership for Healthy Kids has spearheaded efforts in building and strengthening childhood obesity prevention strategies that support access to affordable healthy foods and increase opportunities […]
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July 31, 2013
Originally published in The Times of Trenton on NJ.com In 2012, nearly 130 communities across the United States adopted Complete Streets policies, and Trenton’s was one of the best. Complete Streets policies help make sure everyone — regardless of age, ability, income or ethnicity, and no matter how they travel — can get around safely and conveniently. In many places that means changing how roads and sidewalks are designed and built to be “complete” streets. According to the National Complete Streets Coalition, a Washington-based organization dedicated to Complete Streets advocacy, No. 8 on the list of Top 10 policies for 2012 was Trenton’s resolution of last March. Complete streets are particularly important in Trenton, where 30 percent of households do not have access to an automobile, according to the Census Bureau. More than a year after approving a strong policy, Trenton struggles to fully realize the potential on our streets. […]
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July 2, 2013
A grant from ShapingNJ to NJPHK-Camden has spurred community efforts to develop assessments about neighborhood parks so the City of Camden can create strategies for Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (known as CPTED). Valeria Galarza, NJPHK-Camden project manager, reports that more than 20 community members attended the first CPTED Community meeting in April, addressing neighborhoods on the north side of the city. A meeting for south side neighborhoods is planned for this summer. CPTED is based on the belief that by working together, public officials, residents and environmental planners (architects, landscape designers) can increase safety and prevent crime in a community by building physical environments that influence human behavior in a positive way. CPTED focuses on four principles: natural access control, natural surveillance, territoriality and maintenance. NJPHK-Camden, working with the Camden District Council Collaborative Board (DCCB), an independent community organization, developed a survey to query residents about the current physical […]
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July 2, 2013
In 2009, when the New Jersey YMCA was looking for a state deputy director for its new childhood obesity prevention program office, they wanted an individual with experience in non-profit executive management, statewide advocacy and public policy, and someone who understood the complexities of chronic diseases. Darrin Anderson certainly fit the bill. As deputy director of New Jersey Partnership for Healthy Kids (NJPHK), Anderson brings an impressive background in non-profit executive leadership, coupled with extensive experience and education in exercise physiology, chronic disease management and public policy. He is responsible for all aspects of NJPHK’s program development and operations, including grant management, partnership development, technical assistance activities, communications and sustainability planning. He also is the associate executive director of the New Jersey YMCA State Alliance, where he is a liaison for the 41 corporate YMCAs, and serves as an adjunct faculty member at Springfield College School of Human Services, which […]
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June 30, 2013
Is childhood obesity prevention the real issue, or is it about creating equitable healthy communities through social responsibility? That was the topic of a roundtable discussion led by Darrin Anderson, Ph.D., deputy director of NJPHK, who represented the Partnership at the 7th Biennial Childhood Obesity Conference held in mid-June in Long Beach, Calif. The gathering is the nation’s premier conference on issues related to childhood obesity. Anderson says childhood obesity prevention through environment/policy change has transitioned into a discussion about social equity/advocacy, and while it’s not an easy discussion, it’s an important one to have. “People have a tendency to talk about ethnicity and race rather than looking at the issue from an equality and environmental perspective. For instance, if you’re looking to bring fresh produce to a community, you have to look at the environment in which people live. If the environment doesn’t offer that, what can we do […]
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June 30, 2013
NJPHK Deputy Director Darrin Anderson was one of 15 panelists participating in a Designing Healthy Communities Town Hall on April 30 in New York City. The event was broadcast on three PBS tri-state stations in May. The town hall brought together experts from various fields to discuss characteristics of unhealthy communities and how they can be changed. It was part of a PBS series that explores issues of community design and health costs, based on the prevalence of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, asthma, cancer and depression. Dr. Richard Jackson, who hosts and narrates the series, has been researching this concept for many years. He believes that today’s generation of children runs the risk of having shorter life spans than their parents, resulting from unhealthy lifestyles. He also believes this outlook can be reversed by well-designed communities. During the session, Anderson spoke to the issues of obesity and health related to […]
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