The West Essex YMCA is convening an assessment process in Livingston, to measure support for physical activity and healthy eating using a new tool—the Community Healthy Living Index (CHLI). CHLI enables community leaders to assess environments at the neighborhood and community levels, including schools, afterschool child care programs, and work sites.

At its September 8 meeting, the Township Council passed a resolution supporting the CHLI process and recognized it as a means for improving the health and well-being of the community. A number of community leaders are serving on the assessment task force. They include Livingston’s Mayor Buddy August and Town Council member Arlene Johnson, Town Manager Michelle Meade, Dr. Draeger Superintendent of the Livingston Board of Education, Lou Anello from the Livingston Health Department, the Healthy Community, Health Youth Committee President Alan Karpas, St. Barnabas Hospital’s Lou LaSalle, the Livingston Chamber of Commerce Chairperson Michael McMane, the Livingston Business Improvement District’s Beth Lippman and Livingston resident and professor of nutrition at St. Elizabeth College, Dr. Sonia Hartunian Sowa, Bonnie Granatir Livingston School Board representative, Steve Robinson and Andy Krupa both from the Livingston Board of Education

Developed by YMCA of the USA with researchers from Stanford University, Harvard University, and St. Louis University, CHLI incorporates a review of over one hundred existing assessment tools, input from a prestigious advisory task force, a reiterative review process, and pilot testing. Following the assessment, the accompanying CHLI materials will aid schools, afterschool child care programs, and neighborhood/community groups in planning for policy and environmental change strategies identifying and removing barriers and expanding opportunities for healthy living.

"The Community Healthy Living Index will allow us to take a snapshot across all sectors of our community and put a plan in place to address gaps and take advantage of existing opportunities," said Helen Flores, Executive Director of the West Essex YMCA. "While we have many great things going on already to improve the health of those in our community, we know we can still do more to make our environments supportive of healthy lifestyles. The important thing to remember is that it’s not about where we are today, but where we are going tomorrow. This whole process is about looking forward and making changes that support our kids, families, and individuals where they live, work, learn, and play."

Mayor Buddy August added, "One of my goals has been to create a community-wide focus on obesity and nutrition. I believe the CHLI process is an effective way to assess where we are and define action steps that will foster healthy environments and encourage physical activity and improved health."

CHLI is a component of Activate America—YMCAs’ response to the nation’s growing health crisis. The YMCA movement is redefining itself and engaging communities across the country to provide better opportunities for people of all ages in their pursuit of health and well-being in spirit, mind, and body. Other tools exist that assess individual components of a healthy community such as walkability assessments, school wellness assessments, and work site wellness assessments.

CHLI is one of the first tools of its kind to allow leaders to simultaneously assess multiple sites in a community and get the full picture of how they as leaders are doing in supporting and advancing healthy environments for their residents.

Creating change at the policy level is an explicit goal of CHLI. Research has shown that policy approaches such as increasing access to and use of attractive and safe locations for engaging in physical activity, revising school food contracts to include more fruits and vegetables and whole-grain foods, and requiring sidewalks and crossing signals in neighborhoods to make them more pedestrian friendly may be especially important in supporting healthy lifestyles because they benefit a greater number of people than programmatic approaches that aim to change individual behavior one person at a time.

Here are a few examples:

• Studies show that people are less willing to walk in their neighborhoods when there is traffic congestion, noise, and the threat of violence.

• Communities that develop pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly infrastructure with links to destinations of interest have more physically active residents.

• Evidence suggests that healthy, active children learn more effectively and achieve more academically.

• Research has shown that accessibility to fruit and vegetables increases consumption of them.

• A study has shown that obesity rates increase as the distance to grocery stores increases.

"The West Essex YMCA looks forward to joining with our community partners to lead the way in using this powerful instrument to make our neighborhood a healthier one," said Ms. Flores.

The YMCA is the local charity of choice. Financial assistance is available at the West Essex YMCA no one is turned away due to their inability to pay.

The West Essex YMCA is a branch of the Metropolitan YMCA of the Oranges, the largest YMCA in the state of New Jersey, serving over 146,000 members and program participants annually. Its mission is to enrich the lives of the children, families and communities it serves through programs that build spirit, mind and body, welcoming all people, in an environment nurturing positive values.

Its five branch facilities are located in East Orange, Livingston, Maplewood, Hardyston and Stillwater, and provide a wide variety of services and activities:

• Quality all-day and after-school childcare, pre-school and kindergarten classes, recreational and enrichment programs e.g. swimming and other sports, arts, computer activities and day and sleep-away camps.

• Programs for adolescents and teens that include sports, parties and club activities.

• Programs for adults and seniors.