Promoting Healthy and Active Lifestyles

Through a partnership with the City of New Orleans Health Department and the Louisiana Public Health Institute, Steps to a Healthier New Orleans was created as a division of the Steps to a Healthier US program. This was a five year cooperative agreement sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The mission of the Steps to a Healthier New Orleans program (Steps) was to reduce the burden of asthma, diabetes and obesity by promoting healthier lifestyles that include physical activity and good nutrition.

In 2006, Steps increased its visibility and expanded its resources by establishing new partnerships that utilized national grants to address local problems. The New Orleans Health Department and Steps consultants received a grant through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Head-off Environmental Asthma in Louisiana (HEAL) research project to examine the genetic and environmental risk factors in children living in post-Katrina New Orleans. Additionally, Steps helped secure a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant to apply health information systems, such as electronic health records, to chronic disease prevention and control efforts.

In response to a lack of access to healthy food options in many areas of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, Steps worked with the Tulane University Prevention Research Center, Second Harvest Food Bank, local retailers and other community partners to form an advisory committee to the New Orleans City Council. The Food Policy Advisory Committee was charged with developing recommendations to the City Council to address food access issues. In addition, Steps developed its Corner Store Initiative to encourage locally owned small businesses to stock healthy food items such as fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and low-fat milk. Thirteen local corner stores agreed to participate in the program. These stores received free in-store displays, promotion at community gatherings, placement on the Steps web site and newspaper advertising in exchange for stocking healthy foods.

Steps also fostered relationships with the New Orleans community by positioning itself as a local resource for fitness, nutrition and general health information. Various community outreach programs addressed major disease risk factors such as poor nutrition and physical inactivity by providing local, culturally relevant interventions. Free jazz, African dance and salsa classes have been offered in partnership with the Ashe Cultural Arts Center. Steps also collaborated with the Second Harvest Food Bank and the New Orleans Food and Farm Network to provide free fresh produce and education information at community events.

During the 2006-2007 fiscal year, Steps reached out to New Orleans area residents living in temporary Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) trailer sites. Steps outreach workers disseminated information on behalf of agencies providing preventive, medical, mental health, dental and other services such as Louisiana Spirit, Harmony House, the Louisiana Office of Public Health, Capital Area Human Services District, LSU Dental School, EXCELth, The Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living and others. The project also brought educational materials about physical activity, nutrition and tobacco cessation to over 3,200 displaced storm victims.

In synergy with these efforts, Steps developed and implemented a social marketing campaign designed to increase fruit and vegetable consumption, decrease consumption of high-calorie snack foods and encourage the incorporation of utilitarian physical activity into daily routines. Media tracking research revealed at least 80 percent of respondents recognized six out of ten healthy behaviors.

Steps maintained its commitment to improving conditions for walking and bicycling in New Orleans by collaborating with the New Orleans Department of Public Works, the Regional Planning Commission, Friends of Lafitte Corridor, the Safe Routes to School program and other community organizations to enhance bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure in the city. Steps played a key role in the planning, design and implementation of projects including a community walking path on St. Anthony Avenue in the Gentilly area, the Lafitte Corridor Greenway, the City Park Perimeter Loop Trail and the Canal Street Improvement Project. Furthermore, Steps worked to incorporate bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure into federally funded infrastructure reconstruction projects.