The Stories Behind the Acronym
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I NNOVATORS 2012 WAS CLEARLY THE YEAR of health and wellness programming for NHPF’s Operation Pathways. Our staff implemented fitness and nutrition activities using innovative approaches to motivate residents in fulfilling their goals for healthier living In our after school programs in Louisiana, 72 children were pre-tested in their fitness levels, using the President’s Challenge Physical Fitness Test. The test consists of pushups for muscle endurance, shuttle runs for agility, and sit-and-reach for flexibility. The pre-test found that only 3% of the children in our program were testing above the 50th percentile nationally. At the end of a full year of focusing on fitness in our after school program, 36% of the same children were testing above the 50th percentile! • OPERATION PATHWAYS also created an innovative approach for measuring health outcomes using blood pressure monitoring. Since hypertension has been identified as a major health concern in low-income communities, we’ve installed blood pressure kiosks in some of our community centers for residents to monitor their own blood pressure. We keep track of the data collected for the participants in our health and wellness programs, confirming that eating healthier and increasing physical activity have a positive effect on blood pressure.
“The community center is great
because everyone is nice, we eat healthy, delicious food, and do lots of art activities.” —ASIA
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