Portsmouth selected for national health initiative

PORTSMOUTH

Last week, Portsmouth found itself in the cellar of a county-by-county ranking of health, with statistics such as; Thirty-two percent of adults are obese. Twenty-one percent smoke. Sixteen percent are in poor or fair health.

Portsmouth's statewide ranking was 118th of 132 places in Virginia, according to a County Health Rankings study.

This week, the city announced some good news. On Tuesday it launched an initiative to try to turn those numbers around.

The city was selected this month as one of 40 localities across the country to participate in an initiative to help communities tackle obesity, heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes.

The federally funded program, called Action Communities for Health Innovation and En Vironmental ChangE, or ACHIEVE, takes a holistic approach in bringing community leaders together to improve exercise and nutrition in schools, workplaces, government spaces and places of worship.

Accomack County on the Eastern Shore was also named an ACHIEVE community this year.

The idea is to create new environments to promote healthy living by improving play and exercise areas, making neighborhoods more pedestrian-friendly and hosting nutrition classes.

The ACHIEVE program was launched in 2008 by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. During the first two years, 53 communities received funding.

Forty more communities were added to the list this month.

Some of the key players in Portsmouth's initiative will be schools, the YMCA, the city's Parks and Health departments, and local health educators. The Consortium for Infant and Child Health at Eastern Virginia Medical School applied for the $75,000 grant, which will last three years.

Accomack County received a $50,000 grant under the same initiative, which will be coordinated there by the YMCA.

Amy Paulson, consortium director, said the Portsmouth team will start by figuring out what the community needs to be healthier, whether it be safe places to play and walk or more menu choices at workplaces and schools.

"We can't do this alone," she said. " We need everybody in Portsmouth to work with us. Some changes will be easy, and some will be hard, and some will be unpopular."

Examples of what other communities have done include establishing farmers markets and community gardens, developing walking trails, and hosting nutrition and smoking-cessation classes in churches and synagogues.

The Portsmouth team plans to focus on obesity and tobacco prevention, particularly among youths.

Elizabeth Simpson, (757) 446-2635, elizabeth.simpson@pilotonline.com