Health in every aspect

While the Union County Food Coalition might focus on food access and giving people healthy options, it discussed the other aspects of keeping someone healthy during their meeting Thursday.

“I think this group is working towards a social determinant of health,” Union County Public Health Director Zach Woods said.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines social determinants of health as the conditions “in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning and quality-of-life outcomes and risks.”

Social determinants of health are often grouped into five domains: economic stability, eduacation access and quality, healthcare access and quality, neighborhood and built enviornment and social and community context.

Woods described a situation in which social determinants affected quality of life.

“In Michigan, where they have high lead levels in the water, that could highly impact development. High levels can actually cause a lot of problems, but it can actually show in kids with slower development and things like that,” Woods said. “You’re kind of giving a step down to someone, where you aren’t going to have an equal footing. You may have the best education access and quality, but if your environment is not well and your neighborhood build is not safe, that is going to be a social determinant your quality of health outcomes.”

Woods believes Iowa is lucky in terms of healthcare access.

“If you think of it as healthcare access and quality, I think Iowa is really lucky in that we have critical access hospitals in nearly every county, but you go to Wyoming, and you may not have a hospital for 100 miles,” Woods said. “How many of those folks are getting their well exams, how many of them are doing their mammograms, those kinds of checks? Probably not a lot. Maybe we’re missing preventative things that could have been taken care of that then become issues later.”

A number of these social determinants can play into food access, such as economic stability and one’s neighborhood. Food Coalition co-founder Michelle Wilson explained how, when it comes to food access, people need to be kinder on themselves because of this.

“In Chicago, depending on which ZIP code you live in, some people can literally live decades longer being in a more affluent ZIP code because of access to healthcare and food and all of those things versus somebody who wouldn’t have access,” Wilson said. “I just think it brings the perspective to this bigger place. Yeah, we all want to take personal responsibility, but then how are we working on those systems so there is a more even playing field.”

Many of the programs the food coalition is doing is to help those who have trouble accessing food due to financial difficulties. One such program is the upcoming make-and-take event at the Creston Area Food Pantry.

The program, held at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 25, is free to attend. Participants will receive a meal to take home and learn how to cook safely and cheaply. Those interested are asked to RSVP to Jodi Hitz at the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach office via email, jhitz@iastate.edu, or phone, (641) 782-8426.

In other coalition news...

The first set of teacher kits have gone out to area preschools as of last week. Fourteen classrooms and 217 children were impacted by the program, which brings fresh local fruits and vegetables to preschools in an effort to encourage healthy eating from a young age. In September, the classrooms received apples. The next box will focus on cabbage.

The food coalition will be partnering with the Creston Human Rights Coalition this coming Saturday at Fiesta on Maple for an informational booth. Activities on Maple Street begin at 11 a.m.