A diverse group of partners in South Los Angeles recently broke ground on a new Wellness Center and healing garden to serve Los Angeles Unified School District students and the surrounding community.

Twenty-six municipalities in Arapahoe, Adams and Douglas counties are developing master plans to support healthy eating and active living, including developing sustainable partnerships between schools and parks.

Local North Carolina-grown fruits and vegetables will be more available, especially to rural communities and low-income residents through new farmers' markets. Teenagers picking up a quick afterschool snack will find healthy items at the convenience store. Children will participate in child-care programs with more physical activity. Mothers will be encouraged and provided the support necessary to breast-feed. Residents will take advantage of new shared-use agreements to exercise at facilities throughout the community.

• In Wood County, 19 new gardens have been created at childcare centers serving 1,800 children. The gardens support early learning about healthy eating and increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables.
• More than 200 second- through fourth-grade students at 10 Wood County elementary schools participated in Fit-tastic, an eight-week afterschool program that helped them develop healthier eating and physical-activity habits.

This project developed a healthy local food system that addressed underlying inequities that contributed to violence in the underserved Westwood community of Denver.

Alameda County, California experiences severe disparities in health outcomes and related disparities in education, poverty level, and housing. The depth of these disparities was first documented in the Alameda County Health Status Report (CHSR) 2000, and reiterated in the subsequent 2003 and 2006 Status Reports. Data from the CHSRs have sparked debate among residents and policy makers, and guided the Alameda County Public Health Department leadership to accelerate conversations about broadening the department's efforts to work more closely with community partners to address the social conditions that create health inequities. Funding for this report was provided by Public Health Foundation.

Thanks to Communities Putting Prevention to Work funding, the Cincinnati Public School system has already implemented new guidelines for foods and beverages sold in school vending machines, a la carte lines and school stores, ensuring that they meet nutrition standards that place limits on calories, certain nutrients and portion size. That's 34,000 children eating healthier, in one city alone.

In West Fresno, a city with many low-income residents, the local school was lacking a gymnasium. Through a partnership between the New Millenium Institute for Education and the West Fresno Boys and Girls Club, students participate in physical education at the Boys and Girls Club gym to keep active and healthy.

In the predominantly Latino city of Chula Vista, California, the local school district has opened its green space to the youth soccer league through a successful joint use agreement.

In Pixley, California, a small town of 2,500 that is predominantly Latino, the local school embraced joint use of its facilities, the highlight of which is Ballet Folkorico, a dance program that is run by parent volunteers. The benefits are far-reaching: children feel connected to their cultural heritage, it gives them greater self-confidence, improves their academics, and keeps them moving and active.