Press Releases: Southern California
July 24, 2006
Eat Well Live Better.Org to Help San Gabriel and Pomona Valley Residents Thrive
PASADENA, Calif. – Residents of San Gabriel and Pomona Valley will now have another tool to help them live healthier lifestyles. Eat Well Live Better.org will provide nutritional and physical activity resources, including up-to-date information about local community events, fitness guidelines, recipes and much more.
"As a primary care physician, I always have patients asking me for resources to help them live a healthier lifestyle. With the Eat Well Live Better.org website, each family can find just the right program, in a location near their own community," said Amy Porter, MD, Kaiser Permanente Southern California weight management physician lead. "It’s a great tool in the fight against the obesity epidemic," she added.
The ultimate goal of this website is to raise awareness about pediatric and adult obesity, and provide access to nutrition, and information resources for the whole family. People living in the San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys will be able to locate physical activity opportunities going on in their community by typing in their zip code. This feature will direct them to the health programs offered in their neighborhood.
“Having easy access to nutritional information and healthy diet tips can make a real difference on how families approach their own nutrition,” said Alicia Mardini, CEO of East Valley Community Health Center. “We hope that parents and their children will use it often.”
The website is now active thanks to grants of almost $42,000 presented by Kaiser Permanente’s Healthy Eating Active Living initiative, Citrus Valley Health Partners, and The California Endowment Healthy Eating Active Communities Collaborative to the San Gabriel Valley Service Planning Area's (SPA) 3 Health Planning Group.
"The Eat Well Live Better.org website is an invaluable tool for concerned residents in the San Gabriel and Pomona Valley," said Mitchell S. Kushner, MD, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. "It is an important step on the long road to reversing the obesity and chronic disease epidemic," he added.
Porter and Kushner are part of a Healthy Eating, Active Communities (HEAC) collaborative that seeks to improve the quality of food and physical activity environments available to school-age children in the City of Baldwin Park. Baldwin Park was one of six communities in the state chosen as a grantee of the HEAC four-year initiative launched by The California Endowment.
The information on the website will soon be available in Spanish and Chinese.
About the Service Planning Area 3 Health Planning Group:
The Service Planning Area (SPA) 3 Health Planning Group (HPG) is a coalition of community health advocates and local health organizations serving the low-income and uninsured population of the San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys. This group came together in 2001 to establish a planning body that could be responsive to changes in the health care system affecting SPA 3 residents. Its mission is to improve the health and well being of the SPA 3 community by increasing access to care and promoting healthy lifestyles.
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.
