ARKANSAS MINORITY HEALTH COMMISSION SOUTHERN AIN’T FRIED SUNDAYS PARTICIPANTS WIN SEARCH YOUR HEART CHALLENGE

Wednesday, Aug 5, 2009

New Light CME Church in Nashville, AR

LITTLE ROCK, AR – Participants in Southern Ain’t Fried Sundays, a program of the Arkansas Minority Health Commission (AMHC), have been named winners of the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Search Your Heart Challenge. AHA provided $2,000 to New Light CME Church in Nashville, AR for first place and $600 to Central Church of Christ in Little Rock, AR for third place.

“We really enjoyed the program and our congregation learned a lot about their health and how to reduce the incidence of high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack and other chronic diseases,” said Darlene Cannon RN, MCHS, a member of New Light CME Church.

AMHC and AHA partnered to provide Southern Ain’t Fried Sundays participants the Search Your Heart Challenge. Southern Ain’t Fried Sundays is a project designed to educate African-American churches and organizations about healthier alternatives to preparing and cooking southern-style foods. The Search Your Heart Challenge is a healthy competition among faith-based and community-based organizations. It includes a broad pool of participants from across the state. The goal is to encourage Arkansans to live healthier lives through physical activity, nutrition and health education.

In 2007, 66 percent of adults in Arkansas were overweight or obese and 16 percent of high schools students were overweight. Around 87 percent of high school students and 78 percent of adults in Arkansas consumed fewer than five fruits and vegetables per day. About 54 percent of adults in Arkansas do not engage in sufficient moderate or vigorous physical activity.

For more information, call the Arkansas Minority Health Commission toll-free at 877.264.2826 or go online to www.arminorityhealth.com.

The mission of the Arkansas Minority Health Commission is to assure all minority Arkansans access to health care that is equal to the care provided to other citizens of the state and to seek ways to provide education, address, treat, and prevent diseases and conditions that are prevalent among minority populations.