339148
Increasing access to healthy foods: A community toolkit
Ayma Rouhani,
Department of Behavioral and Community Health, University of Maryland - School of Public Health, College Park, MD
Ankita Saxena,
Society for Public Health Education, Washington DC, DC
Access to healthy foods is a critical public health issue nationwide as it can either inhibit or increase opportunities for healthy eating choices. The USDA estimates that about 30 million Americans reside in neighborhoods that do not have easy access to affordable and healthy foods. This is concerning because healthy eating is important to a person’s overall health and in preventing illness and disease. It is vital that public health professionals address this issue and ensure that communities have the healthy food options needed to make healthy eating decisions. The information contained in SOPHE’s Increasing Access to Healthy Foods Community Toolkit may prove to be of help to those involved in collaborative community-based interventions, strategies, and approaches to improve food environments. The toolkit can be used as a helpful guide by public health professionals, educators, community-based organizations, or even community residents. This poster session will discuss the Increasing Access to Healthy Foods Community Toolkit and provide insight on how to plan interventions and suggest ideas for community activities. It will also offer helpful tools, relevant resources, and share strategies and community programs that have been successful in increasing access to healthy and nutritious foods. By the end of the session, participants will have the right “tools” for implementing community-based efforts to increase access to healthy foods, and hopefully, as a result improve healthy eating habits and nutrition in their community.
Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Learning Objectives:
Discuss important steps, strategies, activities and populations to address to increase access to healthy foods
Describe the process of identifying potential community partners and building a team to improve a community’s food environment
Identify relevant and helpful resources to support the process of increasing access to healthy foods
Keyword(s): Accessibility, Nutrition
Presenting author's disclosure statement:Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: As an intern at SOPHE, I helped develop and author the Increasing Access to Healthy Foods Community Toolkit that will be discussed in the poster session. I am an MPH candidate and student in the Behavioral and Community Health Department at the School of Public Health and a Graduate Research Assistant at the Herschel Horowitz Center for Health Literacy.
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.
