Collaboration & Innovative Solutions
Northridge Hospital Medical Center's School-based Obesity and Diabetes Initiative (SODI) is a program designed to address the need to reduce the rate of obesity and related diseases (with an emphasis on diabetes) among public school students and their parents in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles County.
Studies show that 25% of boys and 18% of girls in the 5th, 7th and 9th grades in Los Angeles public schools are overweight. Moreover, 37% of adults are overweight and projections are that overtime 9 out of 10 men and 7 out of 10 women will become overweight.
SODI targets elementary, middle and high school students and their parents in one complex of Los Angeles School District (LAUSD) schools in the northeast San Fernando Valley. Specifically, this pilot program will be launched in three elementary schools (Liggett, Plummer and Ranchito Elementary Schools), one middle school (Sepulveda Middle School) and one high school (Monroe High School) in the underserved high need communities of North Hills and Panorama City.
We assist schools in conducting an assessment of the schools' wellness, and developing a plan to improve wellness with a focus on obesity and diabetes using the Center for Disease Control's School Health Index tool. Northridge Hospital's Center for Healthier Communities works in collaboration with the Family Practice Center, LAUSD District 1, Coordinated School Health, the Nutrition Network, Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles, California State University, Northridge, State Assembly Member Cindy Montanez' office and the American Diabetes Association.
Together they provide schools with the resources necessary to implement the plan. Educational workshops, on-site screenings and monitoring are anticipated to be critical elements of the implementation plan.
