Fighting Childhood Obesity With Tools and Teaching

WASHINGTON, April 21 /PRNewswire/ — The HSC Foundation is unveiling a grassroots campaign targeting childhood obesity awareness and education in low-income communities in the Washington area. The campaign will address the way families view weight and obesity and help them make healthier decisions for themselves and their children.

National statistics show approximately one in five African American and Latino children are obese, increasing the risk of developing high cholesterol, hypertension, respiratory ailments, orthopedic problems, depression and type 2 diabetes. Latino adolescents born in the U.S. to immigrant parents are twice as likely as their foreign-born counterparts who move to the U.S.

Traditional fitness and weight loss programs have been undermined in low-income minority communities because of a need to focus on basic survival issues. Less recess at school, the lack of safe and well-equipped recreation centers, and few to no grocery stores in some communities have made keeping adequately fit a greater challenge.

The Foundation’s program will target African American and Latino families in low-income areas, especially in Wards 7 and 8 of the District, through posters on Metrobuses and Metrorail’s green line, ads in a number of community newspapers, including the Washington Informer and El Pregonero, and public service announcements on several radio stations, including WPGC-FM and WLZL-FM. The campaign will offer a free healthy living directory, listing local resources that focus on nutrition, recreation and related services. All communications are in English and Spanish.

A toll-free “HSC Health Care System’s Healthy Living Center” phone line, as well as a companion website (http://www.healthylivingcenter.info/), will allow callers to request copies of the resource directory and campaign posters, free of charge, in English and Spanish.

The Foundation has also established a healthy living center at its outreach center at Martin Luther King Avenue and W Street in SE Washington, which offers a variety of free classes, including dance, exercise, and yoga.

The HSC Foundation’s childhood obesity awareness project is a critical step in the Foundation’s long-term goal of combating obesity in lower-income minority communities. The HSC Foundation is dedicated to improving access to services for individuals who face barriers due to disability, chronic illness, or other circumstances that present unique needs.

    The HSC Foundation is dedicated to improving access to services for individuals with special needs who face challenging social and health care barriers, particularly in the Washington metropolitan area. The Foundation  serves as the parent organization to The HSC Pediatric Center and a care coordination health plan, Health Services for Children with Special Needs,        Inc. (HSCSN); all three comprise The HSC Health Care System.   The HSC Foundation 1808 Eye Street, NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20006,                    202.454.1220, http://www.hscfoundation.org/    Contact:  Rosa M. Grillo             rgrillo@cscn.org, (202) 415-7840  

The HSC Foundation

CONTACT: Rosa M. Grillo for The HSC Foundation, rgrillo@cscn.org, or+1-202-415-7840

Web site: http://www.hscfoundation.org/http://www.healthylivingcenter.info/