July 2010 - Parks & Recreation - 56

N R PA I n A c t i o n

Food and Recreation
A Perfect Combination for Healthy Communities
By Shelley O'Brien

hile some people
don't associate park and
recreation departments as
directly fighting childhood hunger and
obesity, the fact is our agencies are on
the front line. The National Recreation
and Park Association estimates that 56
percent of member agencies provide
before- and after- school food and over
83 percent provide summer feeding
programs to school-aged children from
low-income communities. An estimated
1.1 million students receive free, nutritious meals during the summer thanks
to park and recreation. This service is
important because there may be limited healthy food options at home. Nutritious food, coupled with activities, makes
park and recreation agencies vital to the
health of our most vulnerable children.
Federal programs like the USDA
summer food program reimburse agencies for food costs that are associated in
providing these programs but unfortunately they only reach 2.9 million children out of the 16 million who qualify.
The primary reason is a lack of feeding
sites. This is why NRPA has developed
a partnership with the Food Action and
Resource Center or FR AC, a national
nonprofit that strives to reduce hunger
and under-nutrition through public policy. The partnership studies and promotes summer and afterschool food
programs within park and recreation
agencies across the country.
NRPA members are also participating in the ACHIEVE program with the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which focuses on changing
local public policy to create healthier neigh borhoods a nd the " Grow
Your Park " program which promotes

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community edible gardens and partnerships with local farmer's markets.
On a national level, NRPA has lent its
support to First Lady Michelle Obama's
" Let's Move " campaign to fight childhood obesity. All of these initiatives ask
for change that includes healthier food
and more physical activity.
For many children in moderate income families, a lack of quality food
often goes hand in hand with obesity. Indeed, families have to rely on cheaper,
high calorie foods because of limited resources and limited access-access to
fresh vegetables and fruit sources are
often miles away-they try to maximize
caloric intake for each dollar spent. As
park and recreation professionals, we
know that compounding the problem is
the sedentary lifestyle our society has

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created. According to the CDC, only 25
percent of Americans engage in recommended levels of physical activity, and
29 percent engage in no leisure-time
physical activity at all. Unfortunately, the
result of inactivity is that two-thirds of
adults and nearly one in three children
are overweight or obese according to
the Department of Health and Human
Services in 2010.
NRPA knows that park and recreation agencies are critical in fighting childhood hunger and the obesity
epidemic in this country. Its departments have the means and the ability
to change the lives of an entire generation for the better.

Shelley O'Brien is the Senior Manager,

Fundraising for NRPA

July 2010 - Parks & Recreation

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