CANOGA PARK >> Nearly one in five kids in and around Canoga Park are obese, public health officials say, with adults suffering slightly higher rates.
Now Cal State Northridge will work to cut the fat among low-income families in Canoga Park by helping them plant fresh vegetables, plan healthy meals and get more exercise.
“We will be working with local community groups, including schools, to build the foundation for ongoing efforts to combat obesity in the area through nutrition education, promoting more physical activity and create healthier environments, including community gardens,” said Annette Besnilian, executive director of CSUN’s Marilyn Magaram Center for Food Science, Nutrition and Dietetics, in a statement.
The CSUN Champions for Change – Healthy Communities Initiative was made possible by an $880,000 grant from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
The department, which says obesity-related chronic illnesses rate among the top 10 leading causes of premature death, reported an 18.2 percent obesity rate for kids and an 18.8 obesity rate for adults within Los Angeles City Council District 3, in the southwest San Fernando Valley.
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Support for the grant comes Perabet from the state Department of Public Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The new CSUN health initiative will join forces with a Neighborhood Partners in Action project launched five years ago in Canoga Park by the university’s Institute for Community Health and Wellbeing.
It will include teaching basic skills such as cooking, reading food labels, shopping on a budget, growing fruits and vegetable and introducing low-cost and fun ways to get exercise.
It will also pinpoint county resources to improve access to healthier foods and boost opportunities to be physically active from childcare centers to schools, parks and places of worship.
CSUN faculty and students from the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences will work to set up 13 community gardens throughout Canoga Park.
They will also host classes at schools and community groups about how to make healthier lifestyle choices.
Besnilian said she hopes the three-year CSUN obesity prevention initiative, which will be studied for its overall effectiveness, will result in personal behavioral changes among residents.
“The Champions for Change project is a great reflection what can happen when the students and faculty on the CSUN campus partner with community organizations to bring about social change,” said sociology professor David Boyns, director of CSUN’s Institute for Community Health and Wellbeing.
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