The Rapides Foundation is looking for community partners interested in working on its Diet and Physical Activity Initiative.

The community is invited to learn more about this initiative on Thursday, March 5, from 10 a.m. until noon at The Rapides Foundation Building, 1101 Fourth St., downtown Alexandria. The forum will take place in Classroom C, Second Floor.

Part of Get Healthy Cenla, the initiative is designed to promote healthy behaviors in Central Louisiana. It seeks to create or improve opportunities for adults and youths to engage in safe, accessible physical activity, and to increase the accessibility of healthy foods while reducing exposure to unhealthy foods and beverages.

More than 31 percent of adults in The Rapides Foundation service area are overweight or obese. The rate of children overweight or obese is more than double the national rate of 14 percent.

Many diseases are associated with overweight and obesity. Persons who are overweight or obese are at risk for high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke and some types of cancer. Absenteeism at schools, lost productivity at work and reduced quality of life represent just a short list of the social and economic costs attributable to obesity, poor nutrition and inactivity-related illnesses.

“We encourage residents and representatives from organizations, businesses and public entities serving or operating in The Rapides Foundation’s service area to attend,” said Joe Rosier, the Foundation’s president and CEO. The Foundation’s nine-parish service area includes Allen, Avoyelles, Catahoula, Grant, LaSalle, Natchitoches, Rapides, Vernon and Winn parishes.

To RSVP, contact Rachel Farrell at 1-800-994-3394 or Rachel@rapidesfoundation.org. For more information about the initiative, visit www.gethealthycenla.org. Print