Kaiser Permanente Awards Long Beach Health Department $1 Million Grant

By Sean Belk - Staff Writer

February 14, 2012 - Kaiser Permanente awarded the City of Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services a $1 million grant as part of the healthcare organization’s new three-year initiative to boost healthy eating habits and physical activity in underserved areas with high obesity rates in Southern California.

The health department was one of six public health entities that received the same amount of funding to administer Kaiser Permanente’s more than $7 million initiative, which establishes Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) Zones made to small communities with high obesity rates.

Each zone includes parks, stores and schools that were targeted for change so individuals in low-income communities can more easily engage in healthy behaviors and make healthy choices as part of daily life, according to the program’s specifics on Kaiser Permanente’s Web site. The three specific goals of the program are to: decrease calorie consumption; increase consumption of healthy food and beverages, such as fruits, vegetables and water; and increase physical activity.

In Long Beach, the HEAL Zone area will consist of three census tracts in the North Long Beach area (90805), which targets approximately 20,000 residents, according to Shawna Stevens, the health department’s coordinator for the program. She said the program is expected to specifically focus on four schools: Starr King Elementary School; Grant Elementary School; Hamilton Middle School; and Jordan High School, along with surrounding neighborhoods.

According to Dr. Joseph Colli, assistant area medical director and pediatrician at Kaiser Permanente South Bay Medical Center, childhood obesity is a major concern in North Long Beach, where 55 percent of individuals over 12 years of age are overweight or obese. “Poor diet, inactivity and obesity contribute to the risk for many health issues, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke,” he said. “That’s why it’s important that we all work together to create opportunities for children and families to eat healthier and move [around] more in communities like North Long Beach.”

Ron Arias, director of the Long Beach health department, said the hope is that the initiative promotes healthier habits in other parts of the city, adding that 47 percent of all 5th, 7th and 9th graders throughout the entire Long Beach Unified School District are overweight or obese. “Childhood obesity across the nation has more than tripled in the last 30 years,” he said. “Hopefully there will be some spillover that actually benefits the entire city with the education and information that we’ll be distributing.”

The initiative is currently in a nine-month planning phase, which will last until the end of September. During this process, the health department is continuing to work with the Coalition for a Healthy North Long Beach, made up of various community groups, to develop a plan of strategies to create environmental changes in the area that support healthy eating and active living amongst residents. The three-year plan is expected to be implemented starting in October.

The vision of the initiative includes: improving the walking and biking environment; improving the school food environment; increasing the availability of healthy food choices; targeting clinic patients with healthy food promotions; improving park equipment; and creating more opportunities for physical activity in neighborhoods. The strategies are also to be supported by coordinated education and promotion campaigns, along with local government policy.

While the more concrete goals are yet to be determined through the collaboration of the community coalition, Arias said the success of the program is expected to eventually be gauged through measurable results. “It is a very, very difficult thing to measure the actual uptake of positive health behavior unless you stay with the population for a length of time,” he said. “But this is one where we will have very defined measurable outcomes that will be clearly articulated by the coalition.”

Councilmember Steven Neal, who serves the 9th District where the HEAL Zone will be established, said he looks forward to collaborating on healthy changes in the community. “The residents of North Long Beach will be thrilled at the chance to work with the Coalition for a Healthy North Long Beach and key partners to improve the health of our community by encouraging healthier living and more active lifestyles,” he said. “I am also delighted to work with Kaiser Permanente, the neighborhoods and community groups to inspire policy, systems and environmental change through some exciting initiatives planned over the next three years.”