Healthy Kimberley, represented by Dr. Ilona Hale, Jennifer White and Kerri Wall, visited Kimberley City Council this week to update Council on their activities and future plans.
The concept is prevention, said Dr. Hale.
“How can we work together to help people make healthier choices?”
The purpose of the Healthy Kimberley project is to bring people together from all sectors of the community in order to make the healthy choice the easy choice for Kimberley residents.
One way in which Healthy Kimberley is achieving this is through the implementation of the “Live 5-2-1-0” initiative in partnership with SCOPE, an organization from BC Children’s Hospital that focuses on preventing childhood obesity using the easy to remember, evidence based, Live 5-2-1-0 message - at least five vegetables and fruits, less than two hours of screen time, at least one hour of physical activity, and zero sugary drinks, per day. Kimberley has been selected as one of SCOPE BC’s four original pilot communities and Healthy Kimberley continues to work closely together with them.
While Healthy Kimberley began with kids it is now branching out to include the entire community. They have reached out and developed partnerships with more than 65 organizations in Kimberley. They have begun gym nights at Lindsay Park School, supply healthy produce to the Food Bank, schools, early childhood programs and at community events.
The group is also looking for city support in providing Live 5210 playboxes. The Playbox is simply a box containing outdoor toys that encourage kids to be active. The Playbox would be placed in a Kimberley Park. Hale said that placing the boxes in other communities had already proved successful and a low cost way to encourage activity.