Obesity in Union County
Impact Statement(revised 4/21/2016)We will reduce obesity rate of children birth to 5 years (First 2,000 days) with a focus on low income residents of Elizabeth by providing effective education in a supportive environment to young children and their parents/caregivers in both traditional and non-traditional settings through improved nutrition and increased physical activity:
In order to move toward healthy outcomes for all children for life. Goal 1: Develop relationships with medical community who serve pre-natal woman and new mothers in order to work together to impact the future health of children for healthy eating Goal 2: Identify and Map all food access locations within the midtown area with plan to visit and identify healthy food locations or influence location for healthy food options with a focus on those that take WIC and SNAP benefits Goal 3: Develop strategy for engagement of pregnant and new mothers with the medical community as the “trusted” partner provide information and education in those locations as well as through social media, texting and videos |
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Planning
The Obesity Workgroup, led by Alane McCahey from the Gateway Family YMCA and Shaping Elizabeth, is working to build a plan to address obesity in Union County. The planning process began in January 2016 and will finish with first year action steps by July 1, 2016. Contact Alane for information on upcoming workgroup meetings and check back here for updates as the process unfolds.
Data Summary
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Almost 1 in 4 (23.2%) adults in Union County is obese. This data is not available at the sub-county level, nor are racial/ethnic breakdowns available. However, close to 1 in 5 (19.3%) of low-income preschoolers in Union County are Obese as well. This rate puts Union County in the bottom 25% of counties nation-wide, and is especially alarming since obese children are likely to remain obese as adults. Key drivers include access to healthy foods and access to recreation and fitness opportunities. Despite many with adequate resources, 16.7% of children in the county face food insecurity, with 3.1% of children and 1.3% of low-income population having low access to grocery stores. Union County also boasts a high rate (.67/1,000) of fast food restaurants and a relatively low rate (.01/1,000) of farmers markets. In addition, Union County has an average rate (.14/1,000) of recreation and fitness facilities with exercise facilities available to 99.5% of the population. However, 25.1% of adults are sedentary and only 1 Union County municipality has Complete Streets policies in place.
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