Elkhorn Logan Valley Public Health Department (ELVPHD) was awarded $136,529.26 from the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Health Disparities and Health Equity for the department’s 2015-2017 Minority Health Initiative (MHI) project. For this project, ELVPHD is focusing on decreasing the obesity rates among racial and ethnic minorities in Cuming, Madison and Stanton counties. Reducing obesity aligns with ELVPHD’s Community Health Improvement Plan - Priority 1 (Obesity). Targeting obesity is important for the health department because 33.9% of people surveyed in ELVPHD’s 2013 community health survey reported that their body mass index indicated that they were obese; compared with 29% for Nebraska overall (County Health Rankings, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2015).
One way ELVPHD is helping to reduce obesity and encourage minority individuals to live healthier lifestyles, is by offering Eating Smart and Being Active classes. The classes are taught in a group setting or by home visitation depending upon the needs of the individual(s). The classes are FREE, open to all minority individuals and are taught in English or Spanish. The 8 core classes include the following lessons: Get Moving!; Plan, Shop, $ave; Fruits & Veggies: Half your Plate; Make Half your Grains Whole; Build Strong Bones; Go Lean with Protein; Make a Change and Celebrate! Eat Smart and Be Active.
In addition to the new classes being offered, ELVPHD’s minority health initiative project 2013-2015 was recently completed with the following outcomes:
· Diabetes self-management session outcomes: 68% of participants lost weight, 79% self-reported improving their nutrition and 69% increased physical activity.
· Cardiovascular group classes outcomes: 92% reported that they better understood their health related measures (blood pressure, weight, bmi), 98% demonstrated skill mastery at reading food labels, and many showed improvement on health indicators or behaviors (weight, BMI, blood pressure, exercise and nutrition).
· Healthy lifestyles group class outcomes by project subcontractor, Midtown Health Center: 78% increased physical activity by an average of 133 minutes per week, 72% increased fruit/vegetable consumption and 39% lost at least 5 pounds during the course of the classes.
To enroll in the new Eating Smart and Being Active classes or to learn more, please call Maritza Andrade, Minority Health Coordinator with Elkhorn Logan Valley Public Health Department at 402-529-2233 or maritza@elvphd.org