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Mount Sinai Heart Cardiovascular Disparities Center presents
SAVING HEARTS BY EATING RIGHT (SHE) A Project of the Harlem Heart Healthy Eating Series
The Harlem Heart Health Series is a project designed to impact on the entire family which we hope will terminate the vicious cycle of unhealthy lifestyles leading to poor outcomes. The goal is family education through workshops that teach healthy nutrition and novel approaches to shopping and preparing meals as well as increased awareness of cardiac risk factors and their manifestations. This will be accomplished with demonstrations, targeted workshops, field trips to markets and gardens as well as screening. We anticipate that the end of the first twelve months, there will be a noticeable reduction in the severity of risk factors of blood pressure, blood sugar and weight when screenings at the beginning and the end of the series are compared. The program will continue over three years at the end of which, families will be leading healthier lifestyles and representatives from the community will have been trained to teach and advocate the same lessons back to others. There will be monthly workshops, which will be presented by professionals who are experienced in community and healthcare primarily focusing on the nutrition and lifestyles of the family. The workshops are designed to include sessions that are “practicals” where attendees have the opportunity to create menus, learn about recipes, prepare, and sample foods. One key component will be learning to read and understand food labels, which will provide an opportunity to learn about food components that are not nutritious and may be nonessential. Our project will also include sharing of healthy recipes and suggestions about how to prepare foods in a healthier way. Field trips will be conducted to grocery stores, green markets and green gardens. Green markets can be found in the communities but are largely unknown to our target population . The participants will be shown where the best places are to shop and how to cut costs as some healthier choices may be more expensive. Tours or field trips will be conducted by a seasoned organizer who already provides food tours around Harlem to eating establishments, food supply areas and green gardens. Screening will be conducted measuring for obesity, blood pressure, sugar and cholesterol at the beginning, middle, and end of the program and appropriate referrals made back to the medical providers if needed. Questionnaires will be given to assess knowledge and to gather information about the participant demographics.
Field trips and tours occur as separate activities to complement the workshops Instructors: Dr. Icilma Fergus; Dr. Janice Scobie; Nancy Thomas (Navigator), Gilda Caputo-Hansen (community trainer)
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