APHA Blue Ribbon Communities observe 2006 National Public Health Week: Five communities honored for healthy built environments
Among the many communities celebrating National Public Health Week this year were a number of sites recognized by APHA for their work in creating healthy built environments for children.
In conjunction with this year’s National Public Health Week theme, “Designing Healthy Communities: Raising Healthy Kids,” APHA announced five Blue Ribbon Communities in April. The communities — Riverside County, Calif.; Highlands’ Garden Village, Denver; Centennial Place, Atlanta; Delaware County, Ohio; and Winchester Greens, Richmond, Va. — were chosen for the honor because their communities were designed in ways that contributed to better health for children. In Riverside County, Calif., for example, the Department of Public Health worked to improve the community’s walkability and created maps of safe walking routes.
“APHA’s Blue Ribbon Communities exemplify what can be accomplished when residents, policy-makers and health advocates come together to create healthy environments for children,” said APHA Executive Director Georges Benjamin, MD, FACP.
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| Five Blue Ribbon Communities were honored during a briefing on Capitol Hill April 3. Photo courtesy Mark Harrington | To celebrate their Blue Ribbon awards, the five communities held events during National Public Health Week. Riverside County hosted a discussion on children and the built environment at an area university, while the Highlands’ Garden Village neighborhood held a kids health fair and assembly in Denver. Atlanta’s Centennial Place — an urban, mixed-income housing community — was honored by local leaders and residents during a ceremony at the local YMCA, and Delaware County, Ohio, celebrated its award with a day-long event at the Columbus Zoo highlighting the county’s “greenways.” The Winchester Greens housing community in Richmond, Va., invited residents and elected officials to dedicate its new community gardening program during National Public Health Week.
Representatives from each of the Blue Ribbon Communities also attended a National Public Health Week kick-off event in Washington, D.C., during which they received their awards.
An additional eight communities were chosen as honorable mention winners in the National Public Health Week Blue Ribbon Community awards: the Camino Nuevo Charter Academy in Los Angeles; Boston’s Lead-Safe Yard Project; Healthy Neighborhoods/Healthy Kids project in Burlington, Vt.; Retail Chicago; Safe Routes to School program in Marin County, Calif.; Hamilton County, Tenn.; Hawaii Department of Health’s Kauai District Office Smoke-Free Homes Program; and the School Board of Broward County, Fla.
Among the honorable mention winners that held National Public Health Week events was Hamilton County, Tenn. Residents, elected officials and staff from the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department came together to celebrate their award and launch a new program on combating obesity and overweight among children.
In California, the Marin County Department of Health and Human Services also held a public ceremony honoring the Safe Routes to Schools Program, which held bicycle safety rodeos for kids.
For more information on APHA’s National Public Health Week Blue Ribbon Communities or on 2006 National Public Health Week activities, visit www.nphw.org .
For more coverage of 2006 National Public Health Week activities from The Nation's Health, visit:
Communities come together for National Public Health Week: Hundreds of events held nationwide
http://www.apha.org/publications/tnh/archives/2006/06-06/APHANews/2745.htm
Tacoma, Wash., assesses the walkability of its downtown
http://www.apha.org/publications/tnh/archives/2006/06-06/StateLocal/2779.htm
Detroit works to improve community, child health
http://www.apha.org/publications/tnh/archives/2006/06-06/StateLocal/2778.htm
Maryland students learn about careers in public health
http://www.apha.org/publications/tnh/archives/2006/06-06/StateLocal/2777.htm
Cleveland ‘Step-N-Shop’ program brings health to markets
http://www.apha.org/publications/tnh/archives/2006/06-06/StateLocal/2776.htm
Kansas program makes tracks at the zoo
http://www.apha.org/publications/tnh/archives/2006/06-06/StateLocal/2775.htm
Alabama students bring health messages to local lawmakers
http://www.apha.org/publications/tnh/archives/2006/06-06/StateLocal/2774.htm
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