Petersburg HOPPs

Petersburg High Obesity Prevention Program - CDC 1809 HOP

Empowering Healthy Lifestyles in Petersburg to Reduce Obesity

A new collaborative energy to reduce obesity is swelling in the city of Petersburg! Funded by a five-year High Obesity Prevention (HOP) grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Petersburg High Obesity Prevention Program aims to 1) increase access to healthier foods in the city and 2) improve and connect routes to everyday destinations (with an emphasis on walking).

Led by the Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) and the Virginia Tech Center for Public Health Practice and Research (CPHRP), the pHOPPs project is pushing for the development of mobile produce markets for the city, more fresh fruits and vegetables at corner stores, and more places to walk and get fit.

To see these changes in the city, the pHOPPs project is partnering with several organizations including: Crater Health District (Petersburg office), the Petersburg City Library Healthy Living and Learning Center, the Petersburg Wellness Consortium, River Street Farmers’ Market, Friends of the Lower Appomattox River (FOLAR) and the Petersburg Healthy Community Action Team.

Additional partners are welcomed as strategizing continues, needs are assessed, and new initiatives are planned. For example, the pHOPPs project aims to support FOLAR and Bike Walk Petersburg with soon-to-begin expansions to the Appomattox River Trail and other initiatives to promote biking and walking.

Our Project Goals

Short-term

• Demonstrate progress on activities to increase access to healthier foods.

• Demonstrate progress on activities to connect safe and accessible places for physical activity.

Intermediate

• Increase access to places that provide healthier foods.

• Increase access to safe and accessible places for physical activity.

Long-term

• Increase purchasing of healthier foods.

• Increase physical activity with an emphasis on walking.

5-Year Project Activities

• Make improvements to state and local programs/systems

• Establish new or improved pedestrian, bicycle, or transit transportation systems

• Explore evidence- and practice-based interventions to increase access to healthier foods and safe and accessible places for physical activity

• Establish healthy nutrition standards in key institutions such as hospitals, afterschool and recreation programs, etc.

• Work with food vendors, distributors and producers to enhance healthier food procurement and sales

Partnerships created to support efforts in building healthy lifestyle opportunities for Petersburg residents. For more information on becoming a partner, contact petersburgHOPPs@gmail.com.