Health & Fitness
Los Angeles Top Marks For Healthy Policies
LA is one of only five big cities nationwide to earn a gold medal from the de Beaumont Foundation for policies improving residents' lives.
LOS ANGELES, CA — Los Angeles is one of five large cities in the country to receive a top rating from the de Beaumont Foundation's first CityHealth Initiative Wednesday for promoting policies that improve its residents' lives and well-being.
The city received a gold rating for its policies on sick leave, high quality universal pre-kindergarten, affordable housing, alcohol sales control, healthy food procurement and others.
"Public Health is committed to collaborating with our colleagues both within and outside the traditional health sector to achieve our goals of healthy people living in healthy communities," said Barbara Ferrer, L.A. County director of public health. "I am pleased that the city of L.A. and the county of Los Angeles are receiving this recognition for our collaborative work in advancing public health priorities."
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Mayor Eric Garcetti credited the Plan for a Healthy Los Angeles, an initiative passed two years ago that weaves health considerations into the city's General Plan.
"A healthy city measures itself not only by life expectancy, but by access to nutritious food and park space, by traffic policies that reduce serious accidents, by childcare affordability for working parents, and by the beauty of its neighborhoods," Garcetti said.
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"We passed the Plan for a Healthy Los Angeles two years ago because I am strongly committed to moving those values forward in the 21st century. This assessment of L.A., as one of America's healthiest big cities, speaks to the effectiveness of our work."
L.A. received the gold rating along with New York, Chicago, Boston and Washington, D.C. Five cities received silver, nine received bronze and 21 did not earn a medal.
"When city leaders -- and in Los Angeles that includes county leaders -- focus on policies that improve people's well-being and quality of life, their communities and economies flourish. All around, it's a win-win," said Jonathan Fielding, professor-in-residence at UCLA.
City News Service; Nserrano via Wikimedia Commons
