Nutrition and Fitness Policies
Bronx Health REACH promotes nutrition and fitness by educating individuals about healthy behaviors, and by promoting organizational policies and community environments that support those behaviors. Advocating for policy change to create healthier and more equitable communities in New York City is another important component of this work.
One of Bronx Health REACH’s major policy achievements was the “1% Or Less” campaign, which succeeded in eliminating whole milk from New York City public schools. Bronx Health REACH worked tirelessly with many partners to change school food policy in 1,579 public schools in favor of low fat milk. (Read the whole story in Got Low Fat Milk?.) The New York City Department of Health later calculated that per student per year, almost 5,960 calories and 619 grams of fat were eliminated, or more than a pound of weight per child per year.
Current Bronx Health REACH nutrition and fitness policy initiatives include:
- Advocating on behalf of small grocery vendors seeking greater access to quality produce at Hunt’s Point Terminal Market in the South Bronx, the largest produce distribution center in the city.
- Working with the NYC Strategic Alliance for Health to advocate for the establishment of a nutrition and physical activity “scorecard” that will rate individual schools on nutrition and physical education policies and guidelines.
- Looking at strategies to limit student access to junk food, increase opportunities for physical activity, and promote tobacco prevention education through the HEA+LTHY Schools NY Policy Advisory Committee.
- Co-chairing the NY Faith & Justice Food & Voter Education Working Group, which aims to educate faith communities, schools, community groups, and elected officials about the food system and its impact on public health.
- Promoting the addition of health education in the NYC public school curriculum.