A small group of Summit residents, with the assistance of the Mississippi Department of Health, has formed a community health council in an effort to promote better nutrition, more fitness and less tobacco use in town.
The group, called the Community Health Council of Summit, held its second meeting on Monday and will go before the town council next month to request its official establishment. Once created, it will meet the third Monday of every month and act in an advisory capacity under the mayor’s office, said Madeline England, the Department of Health’s Natchez-based Community Health Director for Southwest Mississippi who is assisting the panel.
England said the group will focus on four areas of public health — environmental concerns, nutrition, tobacco-free efforts and health services.
England hopes to form other health councils in Southwest Mississippi cities, and she’s starting with Summit.
“I see this as a calling — helping our towns in Mississippi be healthier, be better,” she said. “... If we know an apple a day keeps the doctor away, then my job is to tell towns to plant apple trees.”
On Monday, the health council focused on two intial projects it’d like to pursue — the creation of a walking track and the passage of a comprehensive smoke-free ordinance.
Missy Hancock, a former town council member, recalled a previous grant effort to establish a park and walking between the Grant Street and Meadville Street railroad bridges, and she’d like to see those efforts renewed.
“I would love to see a walking track,” resident Emma Porter said.
England noted that the town has a smoke-free ordinance for most public buildings, but smoking is still allowed at some establishments, including bars. A comprehensive smoke-free ordinance would end that but open the door to numerous public health grants, and she’d like to see an enhanced no-smoking ordinance passed as soon as possible.
“I think (grant) funders think it shows a commitment to a healthy town ,” England said.
In a previous meeting, residents interested in serving on the health council outlined a number of goals, including improving pedestrian safety, creating a walking and biking trail connecting the town with Southwest Mississippi Community College and enhancing the town’s fledgling farmer’s market.
England said towns can improve the quality of life for residents by enhancing public health efforts, and the formation of a community health council is one way to push an agenda promoting healthy lifestyles.
“When you’re doing things for health, especially for long term ... the benefits of it go so much bigger than someone just going to go get an annual wellness checkup,” she said.
England noted previous concerns about the lack of well-lit public playgrounds, calling that a deterrent to encouraging youth fitness in a state with some of the nation’s highest obesity rates.
“Getting people to exercise is not just about telling them to exercise,” she said. “The playground doesn’t have any light. Who wants to go there after dark because it’s not safe?”
England said minorities are disproportionately affected by poor nutrition, a lack of exercise and tobacco use, and that matters in Summit, where two-thirds of the residents are African-American.
She said small steps to make towns healthy can lead to a better community.
“We create a playing field where everybody in a small town has access to the things a larger town might have,” England said.
She noted Natchez has a well-established community council focused on health, economic development and other issues, with no set members but plenty of participation from residents.
The key to making the health council initiative work is collaborating with the town hall and seeing that local officials can delegate the committee’s recommendations to town employees, England said.
“It’s really one of those things when it works really well it doesn’t end up being a lot of work,” she said. “... If you call the right person and you’re working with the local government, then the tasks get distributed to the right people.”
