NJPHK Featured in PBS Designing Healthy Communities Town Hall

June 30, 2013 | Community News

NJPHK Deputy Director Darrin Anderson was one of 15 panelists participating in a Designing Healthy Communities Town Hall on April 30 in New York City. The event was broadcast on three PBS tri-state stations in May.

The town hall brought together experts from various fields to discuss characteristics of unhealthy communities and how they can be changed. It was part of a PBS series that explores issues of community design and health costs, based on the prevalence of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, asthma, cancer and depression. Dr. Richard Jackson, who hosts and narrates the series, has been researching this concept for many years. He believes that today’s generation of children runs the risk of having shorter life spans than their parents, resulting from unhealthy lifestyles. He also believes this outlook can be reversed by well-designed communities.

During the session, Anderson spoke to the issues of obesity and health related to children and community. He also elaborated on how to increase the level of physical activity during the course of the day for children and families.

Anderson described the town hall as a great experience. “It was refreshing to be in a room with professionals from so many walks of life representing foundations, regional planning commissions, transportation, civil rights organizations, healthcare, land use and environmental justice. It was an intriguing conversation. It also demonstrates that the work we’re doing in New Jersey is respected and becoming apparent at the national level.”

Highlights of the town hall meeting can be found on Vimeo.

SHARE: Return To Previous Page