When UCLA public health researchers went looking for ways to increase physical activity in some of the nation’s inner-city, minority neighborhoods, they only had to look inside those neighborhoods to find answers: Younger African-American people liked to dance to hip-hop. In Latino neighborhoods, salsa was the music of choice. And in some Appalachian communities, fancy footwork referred to as “talking dance” got people up and moving.
That attention to detail—respecting a community’s preferences, cultures and leaders—has earned the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health a $20 million federal grant to implement a nationwide anti-obesity campaign in urban areas across the country. With the grant, the school’s largest ever, the program will apply two decades of research on ways to curb obesity in minority communities through physical activity and improved nutrition.
Reducing the nation’s obesity rate is one of the nation’s top public health goals, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About one-third of Americans are obese, but the rates are even higher in many ethnic, urban neighborhoods.
Are you looking to get active and take on the battle of the bulge? Try dancing! Contact us to learn about new student promotions and gift certificates!