Somerville recognized for whipping the entire city into shape

Mayor Joseph Curtatone addresses attendees at the Shape Up Somerville – Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities kickoff celebration on Wednesday, July 1st at City Hall. ~Photo courtesy of the City of Somerville City officials laud the successes and plans for Shape Up Somerville By Julia Fairclough Recognizing local restaurants that serve healthy meals to children, expanding the presence of farmers markets and urging food retailers to add fruits and vegetables to their shelves are just a few goals to assure that Somerville's health program permeates the entire city. City officials last Wednesday gathered in the Aldermanic Chamber to celebrate the successes and goals of Shape Up Somerville, a city-wide campaign to increase daily physical exercise and healthy eating through programming, infrastructure improvements and policy work. Representatives from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation were at hand to talk about its Healthy Kids Healthy Communities program that offers grants of up to $400,000 to nine communities state-wide-of which Somerville was selected. The program is a major part of the foundation's five-year, $500 million commitment to reverse the obesity epidemic in the United States by 2015. "Everyone knows how important childhood obesity is in international health conversations," said Rich Bell, a foundation representative. Obesity prevention is one of the country's most pressing health challenge. Nationally, over 30 percent of adults are considered obese and over 30 percent of children are obese. Health problems due to obesity account for nine percent of medical expenditures annually. Somerville is at the forefront of the movement to address good community health through environmental changes, Bell said. There are over 100 communities doing the same thing, but mainly through piece meal attempts; a farmer's market or a school program, Bell said. But few are doing what Somerville has taken on by involving stakeholders across-the-board. In particular, the city will-through the Shape up Somerville program-implement the following, according to Mayor Joseph Curtatone: o Offer healthy eating incentives at local restaurants. Any restaurant that agrees to offer healthy dinners expressly for children will be recognized at the end of the year. Curtatone hopes to see five restaurants participate. o Add farmers markets throughout the city. Currently there are markets in Davis and Union Squares. A farmers market will soon come to lower Broadway in East Somerville. o Survey food retailers to see how they can add fruit and vegetables to their product lines. o Coordinate an agenda on how to safely use the city's open spaces. The city is currently holding a youth-led inventory of playground and park equipment. o Expand walking and biking opportunities. A Shape Up Somerville task force will work with all stakeholders in the city to develop a "neighborhood champions program," Curtatone said. "Think of the consequences if you take any community and you cut off access to healthy food choices," Curtatone said. "What do you think the result will be? We would see a health epidemic, health challenges and social consequences." Past Shape up Somerville initiatives include offering a Fitness Buddies program, walk/ride days, healthy alternatives to school lunches, a bike/walk path for the Green Line extension plans, adding eight miles of bike lanes in the city, installing bike racks and improving the city's parks, according to Curtatone. Most of the time it's the affluent or homogeneous cities that make such strides to improve the health of its residents, Bell said. "Somerville is working to change its culture and normal way of life, which is a great opportunity," Bell said. "We see how Somerville is reaching out to the schools, the parks, the streets, retail, city government-it sure is hitting this effort across many levels. This is truly ambitious." The leading sites for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation program are urban and rural, large and small. They include Chicago; Columbia, Mo.; Louisville, Ky.; Seattle; Washington; and Baldwin Park, Central Valley and Oakland in California. The program will grow to approximately 70 communities when another round of funding comes through late next year. Many are expected to be from a swath of southern states where childhood obesity rates are particularly high. The leading sites will then work with the new communities to share the lessons they've learned and the most effective approaches. Read the full story at http://www.rwjf.org/childhoodobesity/product.jsp?id=36348 It takes a lot of work to change the culture and attitudes surrounding obesity, said Paulette Renault-Caragines, RN, MPA, Somerville's health department director. "You need to change the DNA in the community," she said. "We need to stress to parents that the $5 Happy Meal is not the only default meal," she said. It also boils down to using the correct terminology for parents so the issue isn't too socially charged and to get the point across in a matter-of-fact manner, Renault-Caragaines said. For example, the correct term is "obese" rather than "overweight." The schools are also urging that kids walk to school, which entails working on parents' perceptions about safety and to assure them that Somerville is a safe city, she said. Shape Up Somerville currently offers safe route to school maps at www.somervillema.gov, for example. The Shape Up Somerville program was launched in 2002 via a $1.5 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The program started with the schools and over the years has covered programs across the city.