The Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program celebrated its new home with an open house Jan. 30 for the California State University, Fresno campus and the community. The program’s new home is located at: 1625 E. Shaw Ave., Suite 106, just west of Fresno State.

During the open house, six local and two regional recipients of the 2008 Cultivator Awards were recognized for their outstanding achievements in addressing obesity prevention through environmental, policy and system change.

The inaugural exhibit of a youth Photovoice Project and the release of a new bilingual fotonovela, “Eating Better and Moving More” also were unveiled.

The Cultivator Awards winners are:

Local Awards

Fresno County LeeAnn Parry, MSW
Community Benefits Manager,
Kaiser Permanente

Kern County Keith Woodcock, MCRP, AICP
Community Development
Director, City of Delano

Kings County Greg Gatzka, MPA
Deputy Planning Director, Kings
County

Madera County Scott Harmstead
Planner, Madera County

Merced County William H. Ruth, MA, DMin
Director, Women Infants and
Children Program, Merced County

Tulare County Saddie Nishitani, DPA
Superintendent, Pixley Union
Elementary School District

Regional Awards

Community Award The Greenfield Walking Group

Individual Award Michael MacLean, MD, MS

Demonstrating environmental challenges through youth photos

The regional obesity prevention program’s new home displays the creative work of youth photos demonstrating environmental challenges to accessing healthy foods and engaging in physical activities. Over the past six months, youth from the counties of Fresno, Kern, Kings and Madera have learned through the Photovoice Project about their environment and how it’s related to obesity and overweight. Using disposable cameras and their own words, youth identified multiple environmental challenges and discovered ways to address them. Images and comments the youth recorded will be used to promote dialogue among community stakeholders and decisionmakers.

Demonstrating environmental challenges through our own story

During the open house, the Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program also premiered a bilingual fotonovela, “Eating Better and Moving More.” It highlights regional environmental challenges that make it difficult for children and adults to eat healthy and be active. The story was written to empower communities to become more involved in the control of environmental factors associated with obesity. It offers practical examples like, encouraging city officials to maintain parks and offer recreational programs in their area. Program staff will distribute up to 20,000 copies of the fotonovela to Central Valley communities over the next several months.

About the Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program

The regional obesity prevention program is the Central California Public Health Partnership’s initiative to create environments that support healthy eating and active living in the San Joaquin Valley. The program is a unique partnership involving California State University, Fresno, six public health departments, six community-based organizations, and six obesity councils in Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced and Tulare counties.

The program’s goal is to address obesity by improving access to healthy foods and physical activity environments. The Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program is administered by the Central California Center for Health and Human Services and is housed under the College of Health and Human Services at California State University, Fresno. This program is funded by The California Endowment.

For more information, please contact Brandie Campbell at: 559.278.7940 or 559.994.3189.

Related link:

www.ccropp.org <http://www.ccropp.org/>