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HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolutionRESOLUTION NO. 2013 — RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NATIONAL CITY SETTING FORTH THE CITY OF NATIONAL CITY'S COMMITMENT TO OBESITY PREVENTION WHEREAS, in 2004, the League of California Cities adopted an Annual Conference resolution to encourage cities to embrace policies that facilitate activities to promote healthier lifestyles and communities, including healthy diet and nutrition, and adoption of city design and planning principles that enable citizens of all ages and abilities to undertake exercise; and WHEREAS, the League of California Cities has a strategic goal to promote and develop safe and healthy cities; and WHEREAS, in July 2010, the League of California Board of Directors resolved to partner with and support the national Let's Move Campaign, and encourages California cities to adopt preventative measures to fight obesity; and WHEREAS, on November 18, 2011, the League of CA Cities Board of Directors unanimously voted to encourage 100% board participation in the HEAL Cities Campaign; and WHEREAS, more than half of California's adults are overweight or obese, and therefore at risk for many chronic conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, cancer, arthritis, stroke, and, hypertension; and WHEREAS, one in four youth between the ages of 9 and 16 in California is overweight, including 35.2% of 2,518 students tested in 5th 7th and 9th grades are overweight in National City; and WHEREAS, more children are being diagnosed with diseases linked to overweight and obesity previously seen only in adults, such as Type 2 diabetes and heart disease; and WHEREAS, the current generation of children are expected to have shorter lives than their parents due to the consequences of obesity; and WHEREAS, obesity takes a tremendous toll on the health and productivity of all Californians; and WHEREAS, the annual cost to California —in medical bills, workers compensation and lost productivity —for overweight, obesity, and physical inactivity exceeds $41 billion; and WHEREAS, teens and adults who consume one or more sodas or sugar sweetened beverages per day are more likely to be overweight or obese; and WHEREAS, by supporting the health of residents and the local workforce would decrease chronic disease and health care costs and increase productivity; and NOW, THEREFORE, LET IT BE RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of National City hereby recognizes that obesity is a serious public health threat to the health and wellbeing of adults, children, and families in the City of National City. While individual lifestyle Resolution No. 2013 — Page Two May 7, 2013 changes are necessary, individual effort alone is insufficient to combat obesity's rising tide. Significant societal and environmental changes are needed to support individual efforts to make healthier choices. To that end, the City of National City adopts this Healthy Eating Active Living resolution: I. Built Environment BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City of National City planners, engineers, park and recreation department, community economic and redevelopment personnel responsible for the design and construction of parks, neighborhoods, streets, and business areas, should make every effort to: • Prioritize capital improvements projects to increase the opportunities for physical activity; • Plan and construct a built environment that encourages walking, biking and other forms of physical activity; • Address walking and biking connectivity between residential neighborhoods and schools, parks, recreational resources, and retail; • Expand community access to indoor and outdoor public facilities through joint use agreements with schools andior other partners; • Revise comprehensive plans and zoning ordinances to increase opportunities for physical activity wherever and whenever possible, including complete streets policies, compact, mixed -use and transit -oriented development; • Include health goals and policies related to physical activity in the general plan update and specific area plans; • Build incentives for development project proposals to demonstrate favorable impact on resident and employee physical activity; andf • Examine racial, ethnic, and socio-economic disparities in access to healthy foods and physical activity facilities or resources and adopt strategies to remedy these inequities. II. Employee Wellness BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in order to promote wellness within the City of National City, and to set an example for other businesses, the City of National City pledges to adopt and implement an employee wellness policy that will: • Offer employee health incentives for healthy eating and physical activity; • Establish physical activity breaks for meetings over one hour in length; • Accommodate breastfeeding employees upon their return to work; • Encourage walking meetings and use of stairways; • Set nutrition standards for vending machines located in city owned or leased locations; and • Set nutrition standards for food offered at city events, city sponsored meetings, served at city facilities and city concessions, and city programs. Resolution No. 2013 — Page Three May 7, 2013 III. Healthy Food Access BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City of National City planners, community economic and redevelopment personnel responsible for the design of parks, neighborhoods, streets, and business areas, should make every effort to: • Facilitate the siting of new grocery stores, community gardens and farmers markets in underserved communities to increase access to healthy food, including fresh fruits and vegetables; • Revise comprehensive plans and zoning ordinances to increase opportunities for access to health foods wherever and whenever possible, including prioritizing healthy food retail in compact, mixed -use and transit -oriented development policies, proposals and projects; • Include health goals and policies related to access to healthy food in the general plan update; • Build incentives for development project proposals to increase access to healthy foods by residents and employees; and • Examine racial, ethnic, and socio-economic disparities in access to healthy foods and adopt strategies to remedy these inequities. IV. Implementation BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the head of each affected department should report back to the City Council annually regarding steps taken to implement the Resolution, additional steps planned, and any desired actions that would need to be taken by the City Council. PASSED and ADOPTED this 7th day of May, 2013. Ron Morrison, Mayor ATTEST: Michael R. Dalla, City Clerk APPROVED AS TO FORM: Claudia Gacitua Silva City Attorney