Jóvenes SANOS, a Watsonville teen group that tackles obesity issues among area youth, took to the streets Wednesday afternoon to ask community members if they would support efforts to limit the number of fast-food restaurants in town.

The survey effort took two weeks, with the four teens in the group’s city planning team conducting 100 surveys, a job they completed Wednesday.

Next they plan to tally their information, write a report, write a newspaper editorial and get on the City Council agenda this summer, perhaps for the Aug. 12 meeting, said Lupe Rocha, a community organizer with the United Way of Santa Cruz County who works with the teens.

“They’re pretty excited about it,” Rocha said. “They’re looking forward to the findings.”

“Their eventual goal is to engage the city clerk and city manager to pass through an ordinance to the City Council to limit fast-food restaurants near schools and parks,” said Laura Macleod, also a United Way community organizer.

Stationing themselves at various locations — including Watsonville Plaza and the Watsonville Library — and wearing their black Jóvenes SANOS T-shirts, the teens asked four questions that they formed with the help of ETR Associates, a private nonprofit corporation based in Scotts Valley that works to promote health education.

The questions, translated from Spanish and edited for length, were: 1. Do you think there are a) too many fast-food restaurants in Watsonville, b) the right amount, or c) too few?; 2. Do you think there are a) too many fast-food restaurants near schools and parks in Watsonville, b) the right amount, or c) too few?; 3. Would you support the construction of more fast-food restaurants in Watsonville and why?; and 4. Would you support the idea of stopping the construction of more fast-food restaurants near schools and parks in Watsonville and why?

Rocha said it was too early too make any definitive statements on the data, but said people were generally supportive of the group.

“Based on what the teens have been reading, (people believe) there aren’t enough healthy restaurants around,” she said.

Jóvenes SANOS is a project of the Go for Health! collaborative of more than 150 agencies that the United Way formed in 2003. It was the collaborative’s response to the obesity issue among Watsonville’s Latino youth, according to a press release. One in five youths in Santa Cruz County are obese or overweight, a figure that ranks the county in the top 10 in the state.

Research indicates that the kind of food available in a community influences what people eat and how healthy they are, and California has four times as many fast-food restaurants and convenience stores as grocery stores and produce vendors, according to Jóvenes SANOS. SANOS stands for “Saludables, Actividades, Nutrición, Opciones y Sabiduria.”

Eating at fast-food restaurants is associated with higher rates of obesity and diabetes, and lower-income neighborhoods and minority communities like Watsonville have fewer grocery stores and more fast-food restaurants than higher-income and predominantly white areas, the group reported.

The survey completed Wednesday was just one of many surveys Jóvenes SANOS has conducted since it started a few years ago, Macleod said.

Jóvenes SANOS works to make an impact in three different sectors: food markets, schools and city planning. Some of its goals include creating healthier food options in markets and schools, increasing the size and number of bike lanes and sidewalks, and getting more schools involved with Bike to School Day.

The teens’ biggest success so far might have been in getting markets to cooperate, particularly in putting healthy eating options — rather than just candy — at children’s eye levels, Macleod said. They have also encouraged Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s food services to go to tastings for healthy food options, and advocated salad bars over prepackaged salads at cafeterias to cut down on thrown-away vegetables. In addition, with Bike to School Day, they have gotten six schools to participate; two years ago no schools were involved.

Twenty-five teens participate in the program, putting in about five hours per week, and receive stipends for their efforts, helping them understand the value of the work they’re doing, Macleod said.

“I think more than just stipends, I think teens are working with us because they want to make things better for generations behind them,” she said.

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(Published in 6/19/08 edition)

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