The health of the nation’s black and Latino communities stands to get a significant shot in the arm from the $650 million in health and wellness funding announced this afternoon by the Department of Health and Human Services, according to PolicyLink, a national research and advocacy organization.

The Prevention and Wellness Fund, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (a.k.a. the federal stimulus bill), should go a long way toward creating healthier communities across America and, in particular, battling the pernicious racial disparities we see when it comes to obesity and diabetes rates.

“This new funding will throw a lifeline to millions of black and Latino children and their parents and help create healthier communities across America,” said Angela Glover Blackwell, CEO of PolicyLink and a principal advisor for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity. “Black and Latino Americans are hit hardest by the dual crises of obesity and diabetes. All people deserve to live in healthy communities - places with clean air, safe streets, clean parks, and easy access to healthy food options. These new funds will put us on a path toward healthy communities for all.”

The Administration’s funding approach appears to back three core policy principles PolicyLink and its partners have long called for:

• Healthy food in our schools
• Healthy food options in our communities
• Healthy and safe places to live and play

The funding plan also lines up well with recommendations provided to the White House by PolicyLink and the Prevention Institute. To read those recommendations, click here.

Fact and Resources after the Jump

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Check out the Environmental Defense Fund report on truck idling in NYC, highlighted in the Gotham Gazette — a website covering New York City news and politics.

“The High Cost of Idling,”  looks at health, environmental, and economic impacts associated with idling in New York City.

“Idling is an unnecessary source of roadside air pollution, increasing the risk of health problems for all New Yorkers, including the driver of the idling vehicle. Our estimates show that idling vehicles in New York City annually produce 940 tons of smog-forming nitrogen oxides, the equivalent of 9 million large trucks driving from Hunts Point in the Bronx to Staten Island. Idling vehicles also emit 2,200 tons of smog-forming volatile organic compounds, 24 tons of soot particles and 6,400 tons of carbon monoxide each year. These pollutants are associated with a variety of health risks, including respiratory disease and impaired lung development, cancer, asthma, heart disease, lower IQ levels and prenatal complications.”

Click here to read the full report.

I must say I felt hopeful when I came across a recent article in The Nation, introducing some of the interesting work that environmental advocate Kim Thompson-Gaddy, along with other city and state officials are bringing to the table.

I have no doubt that the residents of Newark, particularly the children—many whom suffer disproportionally from asthma—are ready for a cleaner Newark, with more green space, and the promise of green jobs which could help revive the local economy.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker, said it best, when stating that “Newark’s success in bringing its green vision to life will be measured largely by whether it can provide a pathway out of poverty.”

And though Newark still  has a long way to go before this vision is realized—at least they are making progress…

Here are some highlights mentioned in The Nation piece:

 “Creating jobs—green or otherwise—in cities like Newark and Trenton is largely a question of resources, says Alan Berube, research director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution…the greatest potential for new resources to devote to such projects lies in the stimulus package being hammered out in Washington.”

Mildred Thompson, the director of the PolicyLink Center for Health and Place, was a guest on The Celsias Show yesterday talking about our recent report on the environmental triggers of childhood asthma.

The show — a weekly online production from one of the web’s most interesting and influential environment sites — also featured an interview with Amy Anaruk, aka The Asthma Mom.

It’s well worth a listen…and stick around to browse through Celsias. The site offers a nuanced perspective on many national and international environmental issues.

For decades, advocates have been spinning their wheels trying to reduce health disparities. Health-care is a necessary but insufficient weapon in this battle, leading many to pursue environmental or place-based approaches to promoting health such as increasing access to healthy foods, improving air quality, and contributing to land use planning.

Now, lawyers across the country are joining this pursuit. A Boston hospital is using lawyers to demand accountability and fight for healthier living conditions for poor families. In Los Angeles, organizers are helping tenants living in unhealthy housing find legal counsel and press landlords to improve their rental properties. Strategies such as these are gaining traction and have been shown to reduce illness as well as time spent in a clinic or hospital for those who can least afford to be there.

Check out the embed player below for a recent story on Marketplace about the practice:

[MP3]

TAKE A BREATH…sounds easy huh? Well, not for one in seven children across the nation.

Asthma attacks -struggling to breathe, wheezing, gasping for air —are frightening events for children and their families. Asthma is the most prevalent chronic children’s disease in the US, affecting one in seven children nationwide and, in some communities, as many as one in every four kids. Low-income communities and communities of color are hit the hardest.

In the US, 19% of Puerto Rican children and 13% of black children have asthma. Compare that to just to 8% non-Hispanic white children.

What makes breathing hard for these children? The air they breathe in the places they live, learn and play.

Asthma triggers lurk in everyday environments. Children with asthma, and their families, live with the fear that their child’s asthma may be triggered in the most common places –their homes, schools and outdoors. Car and truck exhaust. Mold hidden in the walls of an apartment. Caustic chemicals used to clean school hallways. All of these triggers can bring on a sudden and dangerous asthma attack.

To allow children to breath easy, we need to give them clean air. Parents, environmental health and justice groups, housing organizations, and community-based organizations know that no single family can do this alone. That’s why they have forged important alliances and garnered the attention of the public and policymakers to capture important policy opportunities.

A new report by PolicyLink and The California Endowment, Breathing Easy from Home to School: Fighting the Environmental Triggers of Asthma sheds light on ways that community-based organizations and coalitions across the nation are working to address environmental triggers of asthma.

The report offers numerous policy recommendations that have already shown great promise for addressing this issue and critical lessons are lifted up from local, state, and regional efforts that can be replicated in other communities. Some of these diverse recommendations include: ensuring considerations for health impact assessments in land use planning decisions; promoting public transportation; advocating for systematic housing code enforcement; securing financial coverage for home remediation from health insurers; advocating for green cleaning products at schools; and creating pesticide-free zones near schools.

These approaches constitute an important platform for igniting a movement to alleviate—and reduce—childhood asthma. Policymakers and others can build upon these lessons to enact needed changes.

All children should be able to breathe easily—where they live, learn, and play.