Los Angeles County To Begin A Healthy Parks Initiative

Eighty-eight incorporated cities in Los Angeles County join in Initiative.

At the LA County Park Summit held January 2004 at the LA County Arboretum those present at the Director's Roundtable decided to pursue an initiative of Healthy Parks to combat childhood and adult obesity. During a follow-up meeting with participation by nearly 30 agencies, the decision was moved forward to proclaim the month of April as the start of a Healthy Parks Initiative to be carried on by Los Angeles County, 88 incorporated cities, and our non-profit partners.

The goal is for public and private agencies of LA County to join together in a solid and united front to fight the tremendous problems of obesity.

The role for LA County Parks and Recreation will be to coordinate and support the efforts of all other agencies and organizations, in addition to working on our own programs and activities. As part of the initiative, agencies will share information on obesity, program descriptions, development of new programs and activities, and in communicating with the public and our policy makers.

LA County has created a press release announcing its part in the program and its impact on the community. Click here to view the press release. A press conference is also in the works to announce the program, describe the problems of obesity, and more importantly define what the role of parks and recreation is in this fight.

One of the goals of the Park Summit was to get real programming between agencies. Not only will the Healthy Parks Initiative show that but it has a real opportunity to make a difference to the people the agencies in Los Angeles County, for agencies be leaders in the community, and show the elected officials the important role that park and recreation agencies play in the community.

CPRS applauds the work being down in Los Angeles County. First was the signing of an MOU for all agencies to begin promoting parks and recreation with a united vision "Creating Community Through People, Parks and Programs." Click here to see more. Now, a united front to promote one of the missions of parks and recreation "Promoting Health and Wellness."