Nutrition Promotion & Wellness

Every Tuesday, at 1:30pm, we invite you to join us for nutrition,
wellness and healthy cooking classes.  The classes are led by holistic
nutrition specialist, Ms. Cheryl Winchester of Because We Care, Inc.

How can we promote healthy lifestyles for the people who live in the
Shaw neighborhood? 

How can we fight what the National Institutes of Health calls a "preventable public health crisis"? 

What are ways we can educate people that healthy meals, weight loss and physical activity are changes in life style-not just one long, tiresome diet? 

Who are the people at risk?   

There is no doubt we in the United States have a problem. Numerous nutrition and medical experts have highlighted the disparities in access to healthy food options that they say are contributing to the obesity epidemic in the city. "The lack of healthy [food] alternatives, coupled with the disproportionate variety of fried and fatty foods in the area, certainly contributes to the obesity rate of residents in predominately black neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., writes Malcolm Woodland, a researcher and NIH LRP health disparities fellow, in a Washington Post
opinion piece (Woodland, Washington Post, 11/18/07).

According to a 2007 report by the nonprofit Trust for America's Health, District children have a dubious distinction: Nearly one in four of those ages 10 to 17 is overweight, making them the heaviest kids in the country. Youngsters in the nation's capital are leaders of a disturbing trend. Vanderbilt University researchers presented a study finding that the obesity gap between blacks and whites in Washington, D.C., is the widest of 164 jurisdictions nationwide. The data, from 2001 through 2005, included information on more than 367,000 people. Researchers found that in Washington, D.C., the obesity rate for blacks was 31%,
compared with 8% for whites.

The overall economic consequences are staggering. Obesity related medical conditions cost $75 billion a year in health care costs. Taxpayers pay half those costs through Medicare and Medicaid.  U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona states, "If present trends continue, obesity will disable 22% more adults, confine 25% more people to nursing homes by 2020 and result in 20% of health care spending by elderly to be for conditions related to their obesity. The report notes that while many promising efforts are being initiated across the country, there
still is no national plan to thwart the growing obesity epidemic.   SCM
offers this multi-pronged approach, beginning with teaching people about healthy eating and exercise.

Every Thursday, at 1:30pm, we invite you to join us for yoga therapy and
stress-reduction classes. The classes are led by Ms. Jennifer L. Smith,
a certified yoga therapist.

Are you intimidated by yoga because you think you'll be trying to twist your body
into odd shapes and putting your foot behind your ear? "That's not at all what yoga is about," says Smith. She emphasizes combining breathing and simple stretching with compassion for what's happening within you in each moment as techniques to deal with the world as it comes at you. As you learn to do this, you'll feel more at peace in your body and mind, and better able to deal with the stress in your life Smith explains.

"I love the class. Jennifer's voice is very tranquil and makes it so easy for us to get to the place we need to be in yoga. We all look forward to Thursdays."
-Ms. Brenda Schumpert