Using a neighborhood school to anchor improvements in food and physical activity environments

Within high density urban communities served by a local school, the school site can become a community anchor for improving nutrition and physical activity among children. The HEAC collaborative in Oakland has involved stakeholders from multiple sectors to work together to change food and physical activity environments within Oakland's San Antonio neighborhood. It has succeeded by centering its collective work on the neighborhood schools. The San Antonio neighborhood's community health initiative dedicated itself to transforming its local schools into healthy food and physical environments where children, youth, and families regularly: walk and bike to schools, parks, and commercial districts; engage in sports and physical activities at parks and schoolyards; and purchase and consume fresh foods. Since 2003, the community has secured $200,000 from the City of Oakland to install new countdown signal lights and curb bulb-outs at two intersections at Garfield Elementary School, and $1.1 million to construct a new soccer field, basketball court, and a children's play area at San Antonio Park; and it has installed a new bike cage and implemented a successful Bike-to-School campaign at Roosevelt Middle School. It has created new “after-school learning centers” providing 500 children after-school sports and physical activity opportunities four area schools, and completed schoolyard design plans for two. And it has launched Full Circle Farms, a micro food system providing affordable organic produce, nutrition education, and economic opportunities through the operation of a four-acre urban farm, school gardens, cooking classes, and school produce stands.