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Red Bank, NJ - The Community YMCA, a leader in strengthening community, helped launch a new bilingual consumer health education program on Dec. 2 at a local bodega with partners of Shaping Red Bank.Shaping Red Bank is a coalition working to prevent obesity and improve health and well-being of children and families in Red Bank.

Twenty third-grade students from the Red Bank Charter School were the first to get a lesson on the coalition’s  “Healthy Pick” program, which includes a visual system to assist consumers in selecting foods and beverages that are lower in salt, sugar and fat, and to encourage lean meat and poultry, whole grains and fresh fruits and vegetables.

 “Through the Healthy Pick program, the Shaping Red Bank Coalition aims to make the healthy choice the easy choice for Red Bank families,” said Sandra Van Sant, health officer for the Monmouth County Regional Health Commission, who helped organize the coalition.

Yellow “Healthy Pick” stickers in Spanish and English readily identify the healthier options on the store shelves at El Guero and shoppers are also receiving bilingual healthy tip cards when they check out as part of the education program.

The program piloted by El Guero, is one of three healthy living initiatives developed by Shaping Red Bank and funded with a $7,500 grant from the New Jersey Partnership for Healthy Kids. In addition to Healthy Pick, the coalition is working with faith-based communities to improve their members’ knowledge of good nutrition and with the borough Parks & Recreation Department to improve and promote walking in Red Bank.

The Coalition got its start over a year ago when the health commission, The Community YMCA, the Parker Family Health Center and the Red Bank Department of Parks and Recreation began working on the obesity prevention grant. Since then, several more local organizations have joined the local effort to prevent obesity and encourage healthier lifestyles among borough families.

 “As part of our focus on encouraging healthy lifestyles, the Y is committed to working with other community organizations to better address the growing dual health crises of diabetes and obesity,” said Linda Ambis, Executive Director of the Y's Family Health & Wellness Center, who noted that New Jersey has the highest rate of obesity in the country among children 2-5 years old.

Shaping Red Bank Coalition

The Shaping Red Bank Coalition is part of Shaping New Jersey, a statewide obesity prevention partnership of over 150 organizations dedicated to curbing obesity in New Jersey. Local organizations and businesses that comprise Shaping Red Bank are: The Community YMCA, the Brookdale Network, El Guero Grocery, Juanito’s, the Monmouth County Regional Health Commission, the Parker Family Health Center, Pilgrim Baptist Church, Red Bank schools, Red Bank Borough Department of Parks & Recreation, the Red Bank Library, the Red Bank Resource Network, and Riverview Medical Center.

Third graders from the Red Bank Charter School get a lesson on the new Healthy Pick nutrition program at El Guero Grocery with help from (left to right): Linda Ambis of The Community YMCA Family Health & Wellness Center; Jennifer Burkhart of El Guerro; Sophia Jozil and Sandra Van Sant from the Monmouth County Regional Health Commission; and, Doctor Bernard, the mascot from Meridian Health.