Investing in the Power of Communities to Bring Environmental Justice to Obesity Prevention

High rates of obesity/overweight have been documented for residents of the rural towns and small cities that make up the San Joaquin Valley. For example overweight rates among 5th, 7th and 9th graders were 13-42% in Kern County, 22.6-38.1% in Fresno County and 29.1-34.0% in Tulare County (CCPHA, 2004).

Residential areas in rural towns and small cities also face special challenges in developing funding streams to support development and maintenance of recreational and transportation environments that support PA: the range of economically feasible new amenities is limited. Not surprisingly, a significant association between race/ethnicity and social economic status and access to PA settings, including parks, bike trails has been demonstrated. Again communities with lower incomes, higher poverty rates and higher proportion of racial ethnic minorities have the fewest community level physical-activity and access healthy food opportunities.

CCROPP community partners are working with community members in various highly impacted communities to influence environmental and policy changes in these communities. CCROPP communities include: Southeast Fresno, Madera and Fairmead, Kettlemen City, Greenfield neighborhood and Delano, South Merced and Pixley and Earlimart. Some of these communities operate as unincorporated colonials.

Community empowerment/community participation are buzz words commonly used in community development projects. Existing approaches to operationalize these concepts, however, fall short of the intentions and often end-up as top down approaches.