Press Releases: Southern California
March 23, 2005
Kaiser Permanente Helps Communities Thrive
Awards $756,459 in HEAL Grants to Revive Neighborhoods, Fight Obesity
PASADENA, Calif. – Kaiser Permanente will help to make communities walk-able, change children's eating habits, and provide hot, healthy meals to the homeless with awards totaling $756,459 to 15 Southern California agencies that have innovative solutions to the growing obesity crisis.
The Healthy Eating-Active Living (HEAL) grants -- awarded for the first time this year -- range from $15,000 to $150,000 and were given to non-profit organizations that provide a wide variety of services, including a community garden program, diabetes intervention, childhood obesity prevention, a theater-based nutrition program, and public policy advocacy. The winning projects aim to increase access to nutrition and fitness in low-income, underserved communities. Many of the projects seek to transform their communities to support active living.
Poor diet and physical inactivity are the second leading causes of death and disability, resulting in nearly 30,000 deaths each year in California, according to the California Department of Health Services (CDHS). Statistics from the CDHS also indicate that the prevalence of overweight in Californians has increased from 38 percent in 1984 to 57 percent in 2003. All gender, age, and ethnic groups have shown an increase during the past decade. Californians below the poverty level are disproportionately affected.
"Kaiser Permanente wants everyone to eat healthy, live actively, and reduce levels of overweight and associated illnesses," said Judith Zitter, Community Health Manager for Kaiser Permanente in Southern California. "The HEAL grants are awarded to successful weight management and fitness programs that also meet the unique needs of underserved multi-ethnic communities in innovative ways."
One innovative project to curb childhood obesity is the Nutrition in the Community Garden program which received a $31,000 HEAL grant.
The garden -- now offering a "magnificent harvest" after the recent rains -- is tended by 225 Baldwin Park fourth grade students who are growing and eating their own peas, onions, lettuce, and bok choy.
Program director Linda Hahn and other teachers guide the children's gardening, help them prepare healthy meals, and offer them related activities such as garden scavenger hunts and word searches. Student participants also illustrate an annual cookbook.
According to Hahn, the program has inspired the children to favor recipes such as Super Garden Vegetable Soup -- a cornucopia of spinach, chayote, collard greens, broccoli and carrots. "The kids are also taking charge at the supermarket as they pry unhealthy items from their parents' hands," she added.
"The point of the program is to go beyond the kids' comfort zone, to introduce them to a variety of healthy foods so they develop a more adventurous palate," said Hahn. "Kaiser Permanente couldn't be more generous, or more gracious, advocates for this program."
Kaiser Permanente physicians, health educators, and community benefit specialists selected the following 15 organizations out of 50 applicants for the HEAL Grant:-- Antelope Valley Partners for Health ($50,000)
-- Baldwin Park Unified School District for Nutrition in the Garden Program ($31,000)
-- The California Center for Public Health Advocacy for San Gabriel Valley communities ($63,938)
-- Community Health Councils - South Los Angeles ($50,000)
-- Hathaway Children and Family Services - Los Angeles, for promotoras/health educators ($50,000)
-- Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger & Homelessness, for Echo Park, Hollywood, Mid-Wilshire ($49,824)
-- Montebello Unified School District, Nutrition Services for theatre-based nutrition education program ($50,000)
-- PADRE (Pediatric Adolescent Diabetes Research & Education) - Orange County ($150,000)
-- Riverside, City planning grant to reduce obesity and associated illnesses ($35,000)
-- San Diego - Walk San Diego ($49,985)
-- San Diego Community Health Improvement Partners, for multi-level diabetes prevention program ($36,712)
-- SPA 3 Health Planning Group in Los Angeles County, for obesity prevention research program ($15,000)
-- Special Service for Groups (Tongan) - Compton, Hawthorne, Inglewood, Lawndale, Long Beach ($25,000)
-- YMCA of Metropolitan - Los Angeles/South Bay/Torrance ($50,000)
-- YMCA of Orange County - community coalition to serve residents of Santa Ana ($50,000)
About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is America's leading integrated health plan. Founded in 1945, it is a nonprofit, group practice prepayment program with Southern California headquarters in Pasadena, California. Kaiser Permanente serves the health care needs of 3.3 million members in Southern California. Today it encompasses the nonprofit Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and their subsidiaries, and the for-profit Southern California Permanente Medical Group. Kaiser Permanente's Southern California Region includes more than 49,900 technical, administrative and clerical employees and caregivers, and more than 6,000 physicians representing all specialties. More information about Kaiser Permanente can be found at kaiserpermanente.org.
