Odyssey House is pleased to announce that Aetna is supporting the development of a new health and wellness initiative called the Creating Healthy Eating Families (CHEF) curriculum. This new program will provide hands-on nutrition and cooking classes for mothers living with their children in the Odyssey House Family Centers. The $25,000 grant will allow Odyssey House to focus on improving the basic nutrition and eating habits of mothers and children, including crafting individual obesity prevention plans to establish goals in the areas of food selection, eating behaviors and frequency of exercise.
Odyssey House treats women identified as being the most at-risk of obesity and developing obesityrelated health problems. Most women in our programs are 20-34 years old (the age range that has the fastest growing rate of obesity), mostly ill-educated, and come from impoverished families and communities. Among women, the age-adjusted prevalence of obesity in racial and ethnic groups is higher among African-American and Hispanic women than other groups. More than 90 percent of the approximately 200 women in the Odyssey House Family Centers come from these two groups. In addition to the documented racial disparity, minimal healthy food options in lower socioeconomic neighborhoods, poverty, excessive postpartum weight retention, and recovery from substance abuse, all contribute to increased risk of obesity. The CHEF program will promote behaviors to improve diet and exercise.
Odyssey House President Dr. Peter Provet said he was grateful to Aetna for its ongoing commitment to supporting health and wellness services for individuals and families with substance abuse problems. “This is the third grant awarded to Odyssey House by Aetna, and the second to incorporate diet and exercise among our treatment population. With obesity among the top public health concerns facing today’s children, programs such as Odyssey House, where families live with us for several months, offer a unique opportunity to educate parents on the importance of choosing healthy foods for their families.”
About Aetna
Aetna is one of the nation’s leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 35.8 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, group life and disability plans, and medical management capabilities and health care management services for Medicaid plans. Our customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates. For more information, see www.aetna.com. To learn more about Aetna’s innovative online tools, visit www.aetnatools.com.
About Odyssey House
Odyssey House provides quality substance abuse treatment, mental health, medical, dental and housing services to vulnerable New Yorkers. Family-focused residential and outpatient treatment meets the needs of women with children, adolescents, young adults, the mentally ill, the homeless, people living with HIV/AIDS, and senior citizens. For further information on Odyssey House, please visit www.odysseyhousenyc.org.