HEAL Cities Campaign

Helping Cities Establish Policies that Promote Healthy Eating and Physical Activity

Making Health a Priority for California Cities

Overview

For more than a decade, PHAdvocates has worked with mayors, city council members, city managers, and community organizations to add health elements to their general plans, remove unhealthy foods and beverages from vending machines, develop safe routes to schools, and more. All told, we've helped more than 200 cites establish over 700 policies.

Data and Research

Over the years, we have provided municipalities with city level data on a wide range of issues including childhood obesity rates, diabetes and pre-diabetes rates, sugary drink consumption, and the retail food environment.

California cities have established more than 700 local nutrition and physical activity policies addressing a wide range of issues.

Media Advocacy

Time and again, local media publicized both the local results of our research, as well as enactment of city policies.

Community Mobilization

We have worked with and helped dozens of community organizations to enact local nutrition and physical activity policies.

Partnership Building

In addition to all the local community organizations with whom we have partnered, our partners have been the League of California Cities, Kaiser Permanente, and thousands of city officials.

Policymaker Education

Our local data allows us to develop individualized fact sheets for each city.

Expansion

In 2010, we expanded the HEAL Cities Campaign beyond California to include Colorado, Oregon, Maryland, and Virginia.  Even more, we are building on the HEAL Cities infrastructure to implement All Children Thrive - California.

Resources

Learn More

The full case study is still in progress. Check back soon to explore how we promote health in local communities.