Collaborate with The Church by the Side of the Road and Berkeley Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church to expand nutritional and health needs of African-American children, youth and families in South and West Berkeley to reduce the prevalence of diabetes and obesity and improve overall health. Recruit, train and hire nutrition YOUTH EDUCATORS from African-American families to promote healthy alternatives to sugar-sweetened beverages and the importance of fruit and vegetables. Organize interactive workshops on reducing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and healthy nutrition to children and youth (ages 6-24). Launch a social media campaign to reach African-Americans to promote good nutrition habits free from sugar-sweetened beverages and healthier diet to reduce type 2 diabetes, obesity, and tooth decay.
Expand Berkeley Unified School District's (BUSD) Cooking and Gardening program to reduce the number of students with nutrition related illnesses, especially among African American and Latino students. The program engages all students in preschool through high school with hands-on instructions in science, language art, environment and nutrition education in 17 school gardens, including the Berkeley Technical Academy. Measurable outcomes include: 1) improving access to water; 2) increasing knowledge and awareness of the health risks of consuming sugary drinks; 3) changing preferences for water or other non-sugar added drinks; 4) decreasing consumption of sugary drinks; and 5) increasing family engagement. The BUSD program teaches all students in after-school a nutrition and cooking curriculum at LeConte and Thousand Oaks Elementary, and Longfellow Middle Schools; and at the Berkeley Technology Academy during the classroom day with teacher collaboration. All lessons focus on reducing sugar consumption and increasing awareness. We also host family nights and school wide events at these schools that bring this same nutrition education and fun to the larger school community and families. The program will serve over 7,000 students and their families in Berkeley schools and collaborate with the District Department of Research and Evaluation to evaluate the program's success and challenges. Read more...
Strengthen partnership with the Center for Food, Faith and Justice to implement a multi-strategy approach to reduce health inequities in Berkeley resulting from consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages through behavioral and environmental change. Conduct community assessment (surveys and focus groups) among African-American families in West and South Berkeley. Train community residents as WATER AMBASSADORS (outreach, education about health inequities, health effects of sugar-sweetened beverages and debunk myths about tap water and industry marketing to communities of color. Launch a "Shop Smart, Cook Smart, Eat Smart" campaign to organize cooking workshops for families and garden tours for families. Promote policies and practices within Healthy Black Families to encourage consumption of water and reduction of sugar-sweetened beverages.
To serve as a third-party contractor to implement a mini-grants program in partnership with the Berkeley Public Health Division. Each mini-grant award will not exceed $10,000. Select and announce 8 to 16 grantees of $5,000 to $10,000 per grant using the funding criteria approved by the SSBPPE Commission. Monitor and support the grantees. Assist the City of Berkeley and its program evaluation contractor with grantee-evaluation by collecting required units of service data and performance measures.
Increase awareness about health risks of sugar-sweetened beverages and promote water consumption among Berkeley youth ages 14-22. Research public water bottle filling station options and advocate installation at high profile locations. Partner with teams at the University of California in Berkeley to make information about locations of working drinking fountains and filling stations available to public through existing Mobile App platforms. Create a fact-sheet to centralize information and resources on tap water in Berkeley. Partner with Youth Speaks' Bigger Picture Campaign, Academy of Medicine and Public Service, Berkeley Technical Academy, and REALM Charter School to organize community outreach activities targeting 3,000 public school youth. Coordinate healthy eating orientation for incoming Berkeley High School students. Provide free pre-diabetes risk screenings. Train a cadre of youth HEALTH AMBASSADORS to lead community outreach activities for teens promoting the consumption of clean tap water and distributing safe water bottles. Organize a City-wide Youth Video contest focused on nutrition education for teens and their families.
The Obesity Reduction Program ($100,000): Education and physical activity programs to promote healthy weight and lifelong healthy nutrition and physical activity habits among young children and their families enrolled in YMCA and BUSD's early education programs. Bi-lingual (English/Spanish) educational workshops for parents of children in Head Start and BUSD preschool programs on impacts of sugar-sweetened beverages, importance of drinking water, healthy nutrition, and planning healthy meals. Weekly physical education and dance classes; training teachers on infusing motor activities and providing nutrition and health education. Pre- and post-surveys to identify knowledge, attitude and practice among target population around sugar-sweetened beverage consumption, healthy eating, and exercise patterns.
The Diabetes Prevention Program ($51,360): Provide trained lifestyle coach for populations at higher than average risk for diabetes, obesity and tooth decay to address behavioral changes resulting in preference for water or other non-sugary drinks. Provide a 16-week core and monthly maintenance training program based on a low fat diet, education about calories, and guidance on how to manage stress, social eating, and daily physical activity aimed at loosing body weight and making healthier food and beverage choices.
External evaluation of the funded programs will be conducted by a 3rd party contractor while a career evaluation position is being created within the Public Health Division.
