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YMCA SUMMIT ADDRESSES OBESITY IN CHESTER COUNTY

The Coatesville Ledger
February 10, 2005
By: Bryan G. Robinson

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, 35 percent of Pennsylvania youth are considered overweight or at risk of being overweight.

Overweight children who do not receive treatment have a 70 percent chance of becoming obese adults.

Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that obesity rates have doubled in children, tripled in adolescents and doubled in adults over the last two decades.

These were just some of the sobering statistics that were given at a Healthy Communities Summit sponsored by the YMCA of the Brandywine Valley last Thursday afternoon at the Chester County Intermediate Unit (CCIU) in Downingtown. The summit was done in conjunction with a Community Health Initiative called Activate Brandywine Valley that the YMCA of the Brandywine Valley has launched for 2005.

The YMCA sponsored the summit to not only bring attention to the problem of obesity, but to bring local organizations together to work collaboratively to design a Healthy Communities Challenge for their specific community. That challenge, which will be free and available to the public, is scheduled to kick off Saturday, April 2, which also is YMCA Healthy Kids Day.

"We sent out over 300 invitations to township, borough, school and hospital officials as well as those from others to come," said Karen Babiak, director of marketing for the YMCA of the Brandywine Valley. The focus, she said, is on the communities in which the YMCA has services and facilities: West Chester, Kennett Square, Jennersville, Coatesville and Elverson. However, representatives from the Phoenixville YMCA and the Upper Maine Line YMCA also attended.

Among others there were representatives from Brandywine Hospital, the Coatesville Parks and Recreation Commission, the Chester County Health Department, Jennersville Hospital, Downingtown Communities That Care, Kennett Square Parks and Recreation, the Coatesville Area and Kennett Consolidated school districts, to name just a few of the diverse groups there.
Also attending were county officials including representatives from the Chester County Health Department and Chester County Commissioner Andrew Dinniman, who is also on the steering committee for the Healthy Community Challenge.

Dinniman related a story he read in the New York Times about epitaphs on gravestones and seeing one about a man who looked up to see an elevator coming down the shaft. "The truth is obesity is like an elevator coming fast upon us," he said.

"We have developed Activate Brandywine Valley and are spearheading the summit and challenge because addressing this serious health crisis is directly in line with our mission," said Gary Green, chief executive officer of the YMCA of the Brandywine Valley. "In addition, we feel we are in a perfect position to make a significant impact on the problem due to the 45,000 Chester County residents who already are familiar with our organization and our five locations throughout the county," said Green. Because of that, he said the YMCA has undertaken the initiative as an extensive community outreach project.

The challenge, Green added, will be free and available to everyone.

In conjunction with the initiative, Green said the YMCA has hired a full-time Community Health Initiatives Director, Susan Herr, to develop both preventative and intervention strategies designed to promote physical activity and educate area residents on proper nutrition.

Denise Day, vice president of membership and program development for the YMCA of the Brandywine Valley, said the YMCA's role would be primarily to act as a clearinghouse for information and resources to address the crisis. Specifically, she said the YMCA is committed to providing the following resources:

  • a registration and tracking process for progress checks.
  • a Web site dedicated to the challenges with links to other sites, for example, corporate partners, parks and recreation sites, health education sites, etc.
  • monthly calendars of events listing all opportunities being offered for improving health.
  • a dedicated bulletin board within Activate Brandywine Valley event calendars and success stories
  • free blood pressure checks on a walk-in basis in each community as well as coordination of monthly health screenings and lectures and biweekly professionally-led group exercise workouts.

Workouts, Day said, would be held at the YMCA, but also at other locations in the community. "This is not about [the YMCA]," she said. "This is about everyone in the community."