201532 Small Group Discussions -- NYC Health Equity Project: Engaging Young People in Changing Food Policies

Saturday, November 7, 2009: 2:45 PM

Nicholas Freudenberg , City University of New York, Hunter College, New York, NY
Presentation Information

Title of your presentation: The NYC Health Equity Project: Engaging Young People in Changing Food Policies

Name of Academic Partner: Hunter College, City University of New York

Name of Community Partner: NYC Dept of Health and mental Hygine and several youth organizations in Brooklyn and the Bronx

Brief Description of the Project : With young people participating in NYC youth programs, we examined food environments in several neighborhoods to assess availability of healthy and unhealthy food. After young people reported findings of four separate assessments, they voted to make improving school lunch in NYC high schools their priority this year and together we are now investigating policies that influence school food and developing recommendations for policy change to bring to school officials, elected leaders and community groups.

Stages and/or steps the partnership has taken towards moving to policy changes in your community (local, state, etc.)

By Spring 2009, we expect to bring specific recommendations for policy change to school principals and NYC Department of Education.

Lessons Learned:

Young people care about food and are willing and able to make systematic assessments of food environments.

Young people's concerns about food include taste, price, health, conditions in food settings (e.g. high school cafeterias) –successful change efforts need to include all these domains, not just quality of food.

Young people's food choices in schools and communities are constrained by policies that promote consumption of unhealthy food.

At the end of this session, learners will be able to:

1. describe how young people can assess their food environments to identify policy obstacles to healthier eating.

2. discuss how participatory analytic strategies can be used to translate food assessments into policy recommendations

3. describe the benefits and limitations of involving young people as research partners.

Learning Objectives:
1. Discuss CBPR principles in conducting research with local departments of health; 2. Evaluate policy scans so that identified policies overlap with community needs 3. Discuss how participatory analytic strategies can be used to translate CBPR related work into policy recommendations

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been teaching public health professionals for thirty years and also active in research and demonstration projects in communities. I have taught 2,500 students, and led more than 100 workshops.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Building Bridges from CBPR for Policy
See more of: APHA-Learning Institute (APHA-LI)