Subscribe to the RSS feed.Blue Zones Vitality Project: Addressing Healthy Environments One Community at a Time
A recent article in Newsweek reports on the town of Albert Lea, Minn., the first American town to sign on to the AARP/Blue Zones Vitality Project—the brainchild of Dan Buettner, author of “The Blue Zones,” which looks at the health habits of the world’s longest-lived people.
According to Newsweek, “his goal was to bring the same benefits to middle America—not by forcing people to diet and exercise, but by changing their everyday environments in ways that encourage a healthier lifestyle…and what followed was a sort of townwide makeover”:
• The city laid new sidewalks linking residential areas with schools and shopping centers.
• It built a recreational path around a lake and dug new plots for community gardens.
• Restaurants made healthy changes to their menus. Schools banned eating in hallways (reducing the opportunities for kids to munch on snack food).
• Schools sold wreaths instead of candy for fundraisers.
• More than 2,600 of the city’s 18,000 residents volunteered, some of whom formed “walking schoolbuses” to escort kids to school on foot (see photo above).
In six months, participants lost an average of 2.6 pounds and boosted their estimated life expectancy by 3.1 years.
The article also makes recommendations for all communities to consider. While none of the following may be new to followers of Community Health Priorities, they are still novel for the mainstream media:
1. Require graphic warnings on cigarette packages.
2. Sponsor “commitment contracts” to quit smoking.
3. Subsidize whole grains, fruits, and vegetables in the food-stamp program.
4. Set targets for salt reduction.
5. Incorporate physical education into No Child Left Behind.
6. Require that sidewalks and bike lanes be part of every federally funded road project.
If you would like to learn more about the Blue Zones/ AARP project, and try to get something like this implemented in your community, more information can be found here.
And if you think your community might want to participate, consider applying for a CHP grant to help get you started!
