Florida youth to champion healthier options at c-stores

The Good Neighbor Store initiative, a youth-oriented project, has been created by the Florida Department of Health (DOH) in Broward County, Broward Regional Health Planning Council (BRHPC), and the YMCA of South Florida to encourage convenience stores near schools promote healthier options, reported South Florida Caribbean News.

The initiative involves sending teams of students to visit stores, evaluate the ‘healthiness’ of them, and make recommendations to c-store operators on how to reduce kid-targeting advertising and make store’s healthy items more conspicuous. The teams will then present their findings to the community and city officials.

Participating students, who are also members of SWAT (Students Working Against Tobacco), took a special training on processed foods, sugary treats, and beverages.

The Good Neighbor Store initiative is part of the Eat Smart Broward movement in BRHPC’s Transforming Our Community’s Health (TOUCH) Initiative, which is funded by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The first six stores that pledged to participate in the project are located near Dillard, Boyd Anderson and Blanche Ely high schools, Lauderhill 6-12 School, Gulfstream Middle School in Hallandale Beach and in Fort Lauderdale’s Sistrunk Boulevard area.

The idea behind it, noted Dr. Paula Thaqi, Director of DOH-Broward, is not to stop the stores from selling unhealthy items; it would just request them to put healthier products on more visible locations.

Stores that fully cooperate may receive incentives and may be eligible for grants of up to $10,000 from the Health Foundation of South Florida.