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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Sally Wong, MS, RD, CDN¹, Warren Chin, MD¹, Henrietta Ho-Asjoe, MPS², Waiwah Chung, RN, MA³, Chris Cho, BS⁴, Judy Ah-Yune, CSW⁵, William Wang³, Kenny Kwong, LMSW⁶, Regina Lee, Esq⁶, Stella Lu, MA⁶, and Brenda Wan, BA⁶. (1) Chinese American Healthy Heart Coalition, 254 Canal St., Suite 3002, New York City, NY 10013, 212 431 8808, sallywongmsrd@aol.com, (2) NYU School of Medicine, Center for the Study of Asian American Health, 550 First Ave, MSB-153, New York City, NY 10016, (3) New York Downtown Hospital, Chinese Community Partnership for Health, 170 William Street, New York City, NY 10038, (4) Bellevue Hospital, South Manhattan Healthcare Network, 462 First Ave, Room CD 724, New York City, NY 10016, (5) Chinese American Planning Council, Inc., 365 Broadway, Ground Floor, New York City, NY 10013, (6) Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, 268 Canal Street, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10013

Background: Heart disease and stroke are the first and second leading causes of death among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders over the age of 65. The Chinese American Healthy Heart Coalition (Coalition) was established in April 2000 to address the need for CVD prevention and education in New York City. Methods: “You Are What You Eat” was a 1 year pilot project launched in 2004 that promoted heart healthy habits. The initiative provided a series of workshops to at-risk adults, community forums, and partnership building with local restaurants and bakery chains to increase awareness of heart disease and stroke. In conjunction with local food eateries, the Coalition provided low-fat, low cholesterol, low sodium, and high fiber food products to the community. Results: This project greatly increased availability of healthy food choices in the NYC Chinatown area. The success of this pilot intervention led to: 1) mobilization of community members to increase demand for healthier food alternatives at restaurants, eateries and bakeries in Manhattan's Chinatown; 2) Outreach to additional restaurants and bakeries across NYC's boroughs; 3) Implementation of programs to provide on-site basic nutrition education, heart healthy cooking tips, and technical support to all restaurant and bakery employees by a Registered Dietitian and Health Educator; and 4) Development and dissemination of bilingual heart healthy cooking tips to the community through these businesses. Conclusion: The Coalition aims to reach out to other sectors in the food industry to increase the scope of the project. This model may be replicated in other communities.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the session, participants will learn (
• the importance of community involvement and partnership in the success of health interventions, (
• the experiences of collaborating with local businesses in a successful health education campaign, (
• lessons learned from mobilizing the community and its residents around healthy eating.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation