The city public health department is looking for new strategies to reduce the obesity and chronic disease that plague the lives of many New Haveners.
One way officials said they can stem the tide is to hit people young. And one of the first steps to doing that is teaching teenagers how to make wiser food choices and how to cook.
At a hearing last week the Human Services Committee of the Board of Alders unanimously approved a resolution authorizing Mayor Toni Harp to apply for and accept a one-time $25,000 grant from the Aetna Foundation to support that work. Aetna is providing the money through its regional grants program, which seeks to reduce obesity.
Brooke Logan of the city health department said the money will fund a program called TEEN (Teaching Healthy Eating in New Haven). The program will provide eight weeks of after-school education sessions for teenagers. Through the program teens would be educated on everything from the link between nutrition and disease to how to read food labels and prepare dinner.
Logan said nine sessions will be offered at New Haven high schools and public library branches. Three sessions will run concurrently at three different locations. But the program isn’t just for New Haven teens, it’s also for their parents. Nutrition education and literacy workshops will be offered twice during the grant year and will be free for all New Haven Public School parents. The 90 minute workshops will provide information about the five food groups, nutrition labeling and unit pricing.
Half of the money will be used to hire a staff member to provide the sessions and the other half of the money will be used for supplies, Logan said.
