BALDWINSVILLE — County Executive Ryan McMahon announced June 28 that the Onondaga County Health Department has been awarded $1,525,000 over the next five years to support healthier nutrition and physical activity in school and community settings. The grant, “Creating Healthy Schools and Communities (CHSC),” was awarded by the New York State Department of Health.
“Physical activity and good nutrition are important behavioral risk factors to help prevent chronic illnesses such as heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes, and cancer. Low-income residents, racial and ethnic minority populations, and those with disabilities are disproportionately impacted by these illnesses, and as such, will be priority populations for this grant,” McMahon said.
This program will focus on the root causes of chronic diseases arising from overweight and obesity due to poor nutrition and lack of physical activity. These behaviors are often compounded by many social, individual, and environmental factors including race and ethnicity, poverty, trauma and access to healthy foods or safe places to live and be active.
As noted in the Onondaga County Community Health Assessment and Improvement Plan 2019-21, 65.9% of adults and 33.8% of schoolchildren in Onondaga County are overweight or obese. The county and community partners will collaborate on culturally sensitive and evidence-based programs to create communities and schools where it is easy to practice healthy behaviors across the age span.
These community partners include the city of Syracuse, the town of Van Buren, the Onondaga Nation and the respective school districts that serve these areas.
The CHSC program will assist in:
- Developing healthier nutrition and physical activity opportunities by implementing policy, system, and environmental changes in worksites, community settings, and school buildings
- Increasing the number of early child care providers who improve their policies, practices and environments to enhance physical activity and nutrition
- Increasing the number of municipalities that adopt and implement community planning and active transportation interventions to increase safe and accessible opportunities for physical activity.
