Omaha was one of 41 cities selected to receive a Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The $360,000 grant will help the Live Well Omaha organization develop policies to reduce the childhood obesity rates in Omaha.
UNMC’s College of Public Health is one of many participating organizations that collaborate with Live Well Omaha to address community health concerns. The college recently collected and analyzed data about the specific youth lifestyle behaviors.
“What we found is that most youth have misperceptions about healthy weight, have low levels of physical activity and rarely eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day,” said Suzanne Forkner, Top 10 in 10 coordinator in UNMC’s College of Public Health and Live Well Omaha project manager. “Unfortunately, this mirrors adult behavior. Our goal is to encourage everyone in our community to make healthier choices to improve their well-being.”
The grant provides a much-needed boost to build on existing efforts, local public health experts said.
The grant will be used to create policies that will build connectivity for neighborhoods and schools. In addition, the grant will allow staff to evaluate land and water use policy that would pave the way for the start-up and support of community gardens.
In partnership with the Douglas County Health Department, staff will implement activities to improve access to healthy foods and help children increase their physical activity through opportunities to safely bike or walk to school.