A Healthier New Orleans

Rajni Banthia

A Healthier New Orleans

The rebuilding of New Orleans is filled with heartache, setbacks…and opportunities -- especially when it comes to addressing the entrenched health problems that plagued the city before the Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The people of New Orleans need a new way to envision the intersection of their health and their community --stressing the importance of parks, food access, and clean air. With the right policies and planning, the communities they are recreating now can be far more healthy than the ones they left behind.

Health is about more than just healthcare. It is the confluence of housing, economics, and personal environments. Health starts in communities. Thankfully, it can also be improved there.

Not all communities are created equal, though, and they certainly weren't in pre-storm New Orleans. Limited access to healthy environments was a significant factor that led to distressing health disparities between whites and blacks, the rich and the poor.

While individuals make choices about their eating and exercise habits, their choices are limited by the environments in which they live. Preventable, non-communicable diseases (like cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes) are now the No. 1 killer in the U.S. in large part because of the proliferation of poor dietary habits and sedentary lifestyles. This is especially true in New Orleans, where rebuilding is occurring in the shadow of growing rates of chronic illnesses that are disproportionately affecting low-income and minority populations. Improving access to places where healthy food is sold can improve eating habits and reduce high levels of obesity and related illnesses.

Similarly, improving access to physical activity can have a major impact on communities with low-income residents and people of color. In these neighborhoods, unfortunately, parks are too often nonexistent or are havens for criminal activity. In many neighborhoods, children are even discouraged from playing outside, either because of environmental hazards, landlord restrictions, or parental concerns.

Across the country, advocates and practitioners are demonstrating that health disparities can be prevented or reduced through effective policy change -- especially when making land use and planning decisions. The momentum behind this "Health and Place" approach is gaining steam fast.

As families slowly return home to New Orleans, they must be educated about the potential health hazards that abound in the city -- from potentially toxic work sites to piles of construction debris blowing dust through neighborhoods. But the long-term impact of a lack of healthy food and exercise may be just as damaging.