Creating Resources for a Healthy Eating and Active Living Movement for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders

Recent years have seen widespread attention in the mainstream press and efforts in the public health sector to address the obesity epidemic and its critical relationships to food and physical activity. Despite this, the effects of obesity in Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) communities are rarely, if ever, included in the larger narrative. The common myth that obesity is not a problem impacting the health and well-being of the AA and NHPI community creates barriers, making it more difficult for our communities to effectively address the issue, such as limited data collection and knowledge of the breadth of the disease burdens related to food and physical activity among AAs and NHPIs.

Recent years have seen widespread attention in the mainstream press and efforts in the public health sector to address the obesity epidemic and its critical relationships to food and physical activity. Despite this, the effects of obesity in Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) communities are rarely, if ever, included in the larger narrative. The common myth that obesity is not a problem impacting the health and well-being of the AA and NHPI community creates barriers, making it more difficult for our communities to effectively address the issue, such as limited data collection and knowledge of the breadth of the disease burdens related to food and physical activity among AAs and NHPIs.

To fill this glaring gap, APPEAL has been building our expertise on obesity and identifying unique strategies that work in our communities. In 2009, we initiated a national network of AA and NHPI leaders engaged in healthy eating and active living (HEAL) around the country, in order to advance the broader movement of food and built environment reform, and to help inform our own approach to HEAL. Today, we support other organizations and community-led efforts to address HEAL in AA and NHPI communities through technical assistance and capacity building activities.

A recent highlight of our work is the creation of a “HEAL 101” presentation, which includes some data on obesity in AA and NHPI communities, the historical, cultural and social determinants that have influenced health as it relates to the food and built environments of our communities, and the core policy solutions that some are exploring to address these issues. The presentation was developed in consultation with our HEAL network, and has already been featured in webinars and in-person presentations. The presentation can be found on our website and is titled “Creating a Healthy Eating Active Living Movement for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians & Pacific Islanders.”

Please browse the APPEAL website to access these and other technical assistance resources on healthy eating and active living, as well as tobacco control. We also encourage you to join our listserv and “like” us on Facebook to receive news and information about trainings and funding opportunities.

LAAMPP Alumni Continue to Impact Tobacco Control Policy Change in Minnesota LAAMPP Alumni Continue to Impact Tobacco Control Policy Change in Minnesota

Though the Leadership and Advocacy Institute to Advance Minnesota’s Parity for Priority Populations (LAAMPP Institute) runs for 18 months, LAAMPP alumni draw upon skills and connections gained through their participation in their ongoing work serving marginalized communities through tobacco control. With support from ClearWay MinnesotaSM, Vicki Sanders (a current LAAMPP consultant) organized a January 10 quarterly meeting for former alumni and other members of the LAAMPP community to network and to learn from a dynamic speech by political analyst Todd Rapp from the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota.

Though the Leadership and Advocacy Institute to Advance Minnesota’s Parity for Priority Populations (LAAMPP Institute) runs for 18 months, LAAMPP alumni draw upon skills and connections gained through their participation in their ongoing work serving marginalized communities through tobacco control. With support from ClearWay MinnesotaSM, Vicki Sanders (a current LAAMPP consultant) organized a January 10 quarterly meeting for former alumni and other members of the LAAMPP community to network and to learn from a dynamic speech by political analyst Todd Rapp from the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota.

Mr. Rapp stressed that change is coming from the ground up and declared that smoking and commercial tobacco is not a partisan issue, as it crosses party lines. Addressing the leaders representing cross-cultural communities, Mr. Rapp paraphrased the late Senator Paul Wellstone by stating that we need to speak our minds, adhere to our beliefs and generate solutions because, “We all do better when we all do better.” He highlighted that the tobacco industry targets poor people and people of color, and – making a direct connection to the Raise it for Health coalition– noted that while tax increases are regressive, more so are the health implications for poor people with limited access to health care.

The Raise it for Health coalition is a Minnesota-based coalition with 30 partners, including LAAMPP and ClearWay MinnesotaSM. As part of the Raise it for Health coalition, current and former LAAMPP fellows, sponsored by the Headwaters Foundation for Justice, work as Policy
Champions to educate Minnesota policymakers and community members on how commercial tobacco has a disproportionate health impact on marginalized groups in Minnesota and how raising the price of tobacco is one proven way to help reduce tobacco use.

(Note: The views, opinions and positions expressed by the speaker are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions or positions of APPEAL, LAAMPP, ClearWay MinnesotaSM, or the Headwaters Foundation for Justice.)

Tobacco Control State Highlights Report Shows Limitations in Existing Data and Reporting on AA and NHPIs

APPEAL commends the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for its new report, released January 25, which shows how each of the 50 states and DC is doing in implementing proven strategies that reduce tobacco use and reports state-specific data on prevalence rates by race/ethnicity. The CDC’s Tobacco Control State Highlights 2012 shows an effort to report data on Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) communities. However, what the report reveals is that there continue to be severe limitations in data on Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders and Asian Americans.

APPEAL commends the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for its new report, released January 25, which shows how each of the 50 states and DC is doing in implementing proven strategies that reduce tobacco use and reports state-specific data on prevalence rates by race/ethnicity. The CDC’s Tobacco Control State Highlights 2012 shows an effort to report data on Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) communities. However, what the report reveals is that there continue to be severe limitations in data on Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders and Asian Americans.

Due to a variety of reasons, data collection and reporting standards often continue to lump together over thirty Asian American ethnic groups into aggregate “Asian” and “Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander” categories. For Asian Americans, data on an aggregated “Asian” category that groups together men and women show an artificially low rate of tobacco use that masks diversity within the community and very high rates of tobacco use within some Asian American subgroups—especially among males. Another consequence of data collection methods is that sample sizes are often too small to be reliable and data cannot be reported on for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians or Pacific Islanders. Some steps that could be taken to address this issue are: over-sampling for members of understudied AA and NHPI ethnic subgroups, reporting pooled data from multiple years of a study, conducting interviews in languages other than English, or sponsoring special reports on understudied groups.

“Disaggregating data into ethnic subgroups, conducting surveys in-language, and oversampling for AA and NHPIs in research studies is critical for understanding disparities in tobacco use,” said Rod Lew, executive director of APPEAL. “Without accurate data on specific AA and NHPI ethnic subgroups, the ability to fund, develop and implement culturally tailored tobacco control programs are severely limited.”

When reports cite aggregated measures of tobacco use for AAs and NHPIs, it makes it seem like tobacco is not a problem in the community. As a result, policymakers do not prioritize segments of the AA and NHPI who are disproportionately impacted by tobacco. APPEAL calls for accurate data collection on diverse communities as a step to eliminating health disparities.

APPEAL Applauds the Ban on the Sale of Cigarettes to Youth in Vietnam

Asian Pacific Partners for Empowerment, Advocacy and Leadership (APPEAL) commends efforts to reduce smoking in Vietnam by making it illegal to sell cigarettes to youth under 18 years of age or to employ youth of the same age to sell tobacco products.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 13, 2013

Contact:
Rod Lew, Executive Director, APPEAL
(510) 318-7814
[email protected]

APPEAL Applauds the Ban on the Sale of Cigarettes to Youth in Vietnam

Oakland, CA – February 13, 2013 – Asian Pacific Partners for Empowerment, Advocacy and Leadership (APPEAL) commends efforts to reduce smoking in Vietnam by making it illegal to sell cigarettes to youth under 18 years of age or to employ youth of the same age to sell tobacco products.

The strategy to curb youth smoking accompanies a ban on all forms of tobacco advertising and smoking in public places. APPEAL hopes that these efforts will reduce smoking both in Vietnam and in Vietnamese American communities.

“Due to the high proportion of Asian Americans that are immigrants, changing cultural norms to make smoking less acceptable in Asian countries can have a profound impact on attitudes and reducing smoking in Asian American communities,” said Rod Lew, executive director of APPEAL. “Estimates of smoking prevalence among Vietnamese Americans indicate that nearly a quarter to over half of Vietnamese American men smoke.”

Studies in the U.S. show that nearly 100% of daily smokers try their first cigarette as youth or young adults, so reducing youth access to cigarettes is a crucial part of preventing tobacco-related disease, disability, and death. APPEAL applauds efforts to curb smoking among youth and young adults in Vietnam, where smoking-related disease causes an estimated 40,000 deathes each year, and is expected to rise to 70,000 deaths per year by 2030.

Asian Pacific Partners for Empowerment, Advocacy and Leadership (APPEAL), founded in 1994, is a national organization working towards social justice and a tobacco-free Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander community. APPEAL’s mission is to champion social justice and achieve parity and empowerment for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders by supporting and mobilizing community-led movements through advocacy and leadership development on critical public health issues. To learn more about APPEAL, please visit www.appealforcommunities.org.

APA HEALIN’ Releases “Planting Seeds of Change” Report with Funding from APPEAL

In New York, APPEAL partner, APA HEALIN’ (Health Eating and Active Living in our Neighborhoods) has been busy sharing their recent publication, “Planting Seeds of Change: Strategies for Engaging Asian Pacific Americans in Healthy Eating and Active Living Initiatives.”

In New York, APPEAL partner, APA HEALIN’ (Health Eating and Active Living in our Neighborhoods) has been busy sharing their recent publication, “Planting Seeds of Change: Strategies for Engaging Asian Pacific Americans in Healthy Eating and Active Living Initiatives.” In the report, APA HEALIN’ summarizes the findings of surveys, informant interviews, and the explorations of a Photovoice project on the challenges around healthy eating and active living in New York City’s Asian American (AA) and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) communities. The coalition is now sharing the policy recommendations and strategies for inclusion in the report with a variety of food reform and public health stakeholders in an effort to ensure that AAs and NHPIs are included in broader initiatives on healthy foods and built environment.

APA HEALIN’ received funding from APPEAL as part of the National Asian American and Pacific Islander Network to Eliminate Health Disparities (NAPNEHD) Project. You can see the full report, including the policy recommendations here.

LAAMPP III Institute

The Leadership and Advocacy Institute to Advance Minnesota’s Parity for Priority Populations (LAAMPP) launched its third cycle in September of this year. The LAAMPP Institute works with Minnesota’s diverse communities to build capacity for effective tobacco control. Twenty-five community leaders were selected to participate as fellows in the Institute and represent the following communities: Africans/African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Chicanos/Latinos, and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT).

The Leadership and Advocacy Institute to Advance Minnesota’s Parity for Priority Populations (LAAMPP) launched its third cycle in September of this year. The LAAMPP Institute works with Minnesota’s diverse communities to build capacity for effective tobacco control. Twenty-five community leaders were selected to participate as fellows in the Institute and represent the following communities: Africans/African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Chicanos/Latinos, and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT).

To kick off this cycle, fellows participated in their first core summit training to build skills in five core areas — advocacy, collaboration, cultural and community competence, facilitation, communication, and expanding tobacco prevention and control capacities. LAAMPP fellows and coaches left the summit feeling energized and motivated to create change in the tobacco control movement. Jinny Johnson, a new LAAMPP Fellow said, “[The] LAAMPP Institute is pushing me to challenge my thinking about how I work across different communities to drive social change and become a stronger advocate and person. LAAMPP is really opening my eyes to new people and their stories and showing me that we all have pieces of each other’s stories in our own..”

The LAAMPP Institute is adapted from the APPEAL Leadership Model. Funding and support for LAAMPP is provided by ClearWay MinnesotaSM and the Minnesota Department of Health.

Asian Smokers’ Quitline Now Available Nationwide

The Asian Smokers’ Quitline, the first cessation service developed specifically for US smokers who speak Asian languages, is now available for free nationwide telephone assistance for Cantonese-, Mandarin-, Korean- and Vietnamese-speaking callers who want to quit smoking.

The Asian Smokers’ Quitline, the first cessation service developed specifically for US smokers who speak Asian languages, is now available for free nationwide telephone assistance for Cantonese-, Mandarin-, Korean- and Vietnamese-speaking callers who want to quit smoking.

Callers can speak with a bilingual/bicultural counselor to receive help with quitting smoking, informational materials and referrals to other sources. Those who call will also receive a two-week starter kit of nicotine patches.

In a study with over 2,200 Asian-language speakers, researchers show that the Asian Smokers’ Quitline is an effective cessation resource. “Overall, telephone support [provided by counselors on the Asian Smokers’ Quitline] doubled participants’ odds of quitting,” said principal investigator Dr. Shu-Hong Zhu.

Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is funding the University of California, San Diego for only one year to operate the quitline. APPEAL hopes that the quitline will receive funding for further years, so that community members have continued access to culturally-tailored cessation resources. A high volume of calls to the quitline in this first year is extermeley important to demonstrate that Asian Americans will use this resource. APPEAL would like to encourage all of our partners to promote the Asian Smokers’ Quitline in your respective communities.

For more information about the Asian Smokers’ Quitline, please visit: www.asiansmokersquitline.org.

The Asian Smokers’ Quitline is available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. – 9 p.m. and the phone numbers for those who want to quit are:

APPEAL Stakeholders Meet to Launch National Advisory Committee and Set Strategic Priorities for Network

In September 26, 2012, APPEAL convened a group of stakeholders from across the US and Pacific Islands working towards Asian American (AA), Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) health parity in the healthy eating and active living (HEAL) and tobacco control movements.

In September 26, 2012, APPEAL convened a group of stakeholders from across the US and Pacific Islands working towards Asian American (AA), Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) health parity in the healthy eating and active living (HEAL) and tobacco control movements. At the meeting, APPEAL’s stakeholders launched APPEAL’s new national advisory committee, which formed to provide direction for APPEAL and its network members. Thirty APPEAL partners from AA and NHPI communities and allies from foundations and health departments discussed priorities for established and emerging tobacco and HEAL issues for our communities. “I enjoyed coming away with a set of priorities for the network,” said one participant, after attendees had engaged in a discussion to prioritize items from APPEAL’s policy recommendations and develop action steps for future work addressing the tobacco and obesity epidemics in AA and NHPI communities.

“Insight from our newly formed advisory committee is extermeley helpful in directing APPEAL’s work to connect, support and build upon on the expertise and strengths of our network partners,” said APPEAL Executive Director Rod Lew. In the midst of a changing policy environment, meeting attendees shared ideas about how to address new challenges and opporutnities, such as engaging new partners in the tobacco control and healthy eating and active living movements, dismantling institutional racism and encouraged each other to learn about and share successes with partners in the APPEAL network.

Looking for Asian Americans to appear in CDC tobacco education campaign

CDC is in the process of developing another national tobacco education campaign and is specifically looking for Asian Americans to appear in the ads. They would like to include former smokers who have suffered from various medical conditions (and have been tobacco-free for at least 6 months) or those who have used proven strategies to help them successfully quit.

Please see flyer for details.

APPEAL appreciates any help in distributing this flyer to your contacts. Those who are selected to participate in the campaign can be paid up to $2500 and it would be great to have REAL people from our community represented in a national media campaign.

Thanks so much!

APPEAL Staff

APPEAL at the 2012 National Conference on Tobacco or Health (NCTOH) in Kansas City, MO!

Hi APPEAL Partners,

Are you attending the National Conference on Tobacco or Health (NCTOH) in Kansas City, MO this week (8/15-8/17)?

There will be a few opportunities to meet with staff and partners:

  • APPEAL Network Reception
    When:     Wednesday, August 15th, 5:30 – 6:30 PM

    Where: Marriott Kansas City Downtown, Bennie Moten AB

    This will be a great opportunity to meet and mingle with APPEAL PROMISE Network members and other AA and NHPI tobacco control advocates!!! Raffle prizes will be handed out during the reception.

  • Visit APPEAL’s Booth at the conference – #323 in the Exhibit Hall
    Stop by to say “hi”, pick up some materials, meet some staff, enter in our raffle, and learn how we can collaborate! We will be in the row with all of the other networks in the National Networks Consortium!
  • Support APPEAL partners by attending their sessions
    Here is a list of presentations given by APPEAL Network members and partners at the conference. Apologies if we may have missed some, please feel free to share on the APPEAL listserv with the Network.

    • Follow us on Facebook to stay in touch! We look forward to seeing those who are attending the conference this week!

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