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| "Overweight and obesity and their associated health problems have a significant economic impact on the U.S. health care system. Medical costs associated with overweight and obesity may involve direct and indirect costs" -Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) |
The Health Trust's Healthy Living Initiative aims to reduce obesity by creating changes in our environment to increase access to physical activity and healthy food opportunities for all residents. The Health Trust seeks to infuse healthy choices into our daily lives by creating environments where physical activity and nutritious food are more readily accessible, making the healthy choice, the easy choice.
We do this work through two strategies:
The Goals of the Healthy Food Resources Strategy are to ensure that:
- Residents have access to affordable locally grown produce within ½ mile of their neighborhood, and that
- Residents meet the Healthy People 2020 objectives for daily fruit and vegetable consumption.
We work towards these goals through the following :
In 2010, The Health Trust funded Public Health Law and Policy to complete the Healthy Food Resource Assessment for Santa Clara County. The report identifies those communities with the least access and greatest need for Healthy Food Resources. This report provides the framework for The Health Trust’s Healthy Food Resources (HFR) Granting Strategy. Proposals for HFR development in targeted communities are solicited annually through a Request For Proposal (RFP) process. In FY 2012, The Health Trust will be releasing a second RFP focused on capacity building and organizational effectiveness for organizations working on Healthy Food Resource Development.
Currently, counties, cities, workplaces, schools, and faith-based organizations have environments, policies, and practices that offer few opportunities for people to engage in physical activity, healthy eating, and other health promoting behaviors. The Creating Healthy Places Strategy focuses on environmental and policy changes in order to increase healthy behaviors. The two goals of the Creating Healthy Places strategy are:
- Policies, practices and environmental changes increase access to healthy food and physical activity in places where people are most impacted by obesity and poverty and,
- Cities, Counties and planning districts have policies in places the promote the health of all of residents.
We work towards these goals through the following :
Our grant making approach supports the Creating Healthy Places strategy in two ways.
- Fund organizations to monitor and advocate for inclusion of strong health elements in General Plans and to support the implementation of approved General Plan health elements in targeted neighborhoods.
- Healthy People Healthy Places RFP. Through an annual RFP process, the Healthy People Health Places strategy funds development and implementation of place-based policies and environmental changes that increase opportunities for physical activity healthy eating.
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