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Building Communities For Youth
Success Story: Kern County Obesity Summit

Building Communities For Youth

Planning for youth is not always easy. They do not normally partake in late night council
meetings nor do they enjoy the privilege of weighing in at the ballot box. The conventional methods for gathering community feedback on planning and development decisions match the lifestyle of adults, but not those in their teen years and younger. So how do we encourage youth participation in the planning process? To answer this question will require stepping outside the adult-dimensioned box and creating new, meaningful ways to empower and engage youth in decisions that directly affect their ability to get around, find fun things to do and make healthy choices.

A good place to start is finding out how youth perceive and use For example, if you were to go “car free” for one day, how would you run errands? What route would you take? These are decisions our youth make every day and are based on criteria adults may not consider. A recent project called Youth Voices for Change brought together the University of California Davis Center (UC Davis) for Regional Change with the Sactown Heroes, a 15-member youth group affiliated with West Sacramento Youth Resource Coalition, to provide the youth with a voice at city hall. Youth participants met with UC Davis faculty and graduate students once a week for three months to discuss what they liked and disliked about their community.

As an alternative to handing over a bland report to policy-makers summarizing project findings, the youth were given instruction in photography, video production, map-making and presentation skills. As a result, the youth presented their opinions using poetry, comics and an interactive Web-based map. Users of the interactive map click on colored balloons that mark locations identified by the youths as challenges, favorite places or areas needing adjustments. Each balloon is linked to a video Local Government Commission recording, photographs or youth narratives describing why the location is significant. Locations on the map identify favorite fishing holes, roads needing improved bike lanes, increased access to transit and buses, dangerous alleys and favorite food places. To view the map and other media, visit http://tiny.cc/rIXhx.

The Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program (CCROPP) choreographed a similar “Photovoice” project with youth ranging between the ages of 9 to 18 in Fresno, Kern, Kings and Madera Counties. Youth captured images celebrating well-kept, local parks while other pictures revealed dangerous alleys, abandoned homes and overweight students eating junk food. Images and an interactive map can be found at http://www.ccropp.org and by clicking on Activities and then Photovoice.

Most local government officials agree that spanning the communication gap between youth constituents and city hall is important; however, this may require approaches that differ from the traditional methods of community participation. Utilizing youth strengths, including boundless energy and inquisitiveness, and incorporating activities that appeal to different learning styles (i.e. tactile, auditory and visual) can create an environment in which all youth can comfortably participate when discussing issues that are new to them, such as planning.

Success Story: Kern County Obesity Summit

The Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program (CCROPP) at California State University, Fresno has expanded its approach to addressing obesity by bringing non-traditional partners together and advancing its reach into the communities it serves. In
the San Joaquin Valley, CCROPP partners are leading the way in shaping major policy and environmental changes with two overarching goals: improving access to healthy, affordable foods and improving access to physical activity.

From this effort, innovative solutions have emerged, such as the Kern County Department of Public Health’s first obesity summit held in April 2009. The Obesity Summit: A Call to Action attracted hundreds of participants representing local governments, education, healthcare, childcare, community and faithbased organizations, media, business leaders and community members. The summit represented a unique opportunity for diverse constituents to collaborate, share resources, enhance their level of understanding and work towards obesity prevention through the lens of the environment and policy.

This summit was inspired by San Diego’s notable Childhood Obesity Action Plan, which featured the work of Gwen Foster, the former Philadelphia health czar. Foster set an ambitious goal for her city to lose 76 tons of weight. Several of Foster’s techniques are now being applied to Kern County’s own efforts. The Kern County’s successful convening has informed surrounding areas about instituting large-scale action plans and has attracted elected officials to work with public health departments.

For more information about the Kern County Obesity Summit or Action Plan, contact Mariel Mehdipour, at (661) 868-0326 or mehidipourm@ co.kern.ca.us.