"Come with us for a week, for a month, and see how much food lasts for you:" A Qualitative Exploration of Food Insecurity in East Harlem, New York City.

BACKGROUND: Food insecurity refers to uncertain access to food on a consistent basis and the stress experienced by families who worry about having sufficient resources to provide balanced meals in their households. Food insecurity has a disproportionate influence on people of color. A robust body of evidence links food insecurity to poor health outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To document experiences of food insecurity among linguistically and ethnically diverse residents of the East Harlem neighborhood of New York City by exploring the ways in which food availability and cost intersect with household budgets, personal preferences, and shopping strategies. DESIGN: In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with adult residents of New York City's East Harlem neighborhood to provide insights about the links between food insecurity, well-being, and quality of life. PARTICIPANTS/SETTING: Thirty-seven adult residents of East Harlem were recruited through purposive sampling. Eligibility requirements included living in an East Harlem zip code (10029 or 10035); being aged 18 years or older; being the main food shopper and food decision-maker in the household; and speaking English, Spanish, or Mandarin Chinese. The study was conducted from February to May 2018. STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED: Interviews were analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Codes were organized into broad thematic topics and cross-case analyses were conducted. RESULTS: Participants discussed overall perceptions of food insecurity and seven themes related to the challenges of and strategies for coping with food insecurity: intermittent vs chronic food insecurity, shopping and budgeting strategies, pantries as a vital community resource, social support systems, food insecurity and health, frustration with an unjust system, and pride in "making it work." CONCLUSIONS: To manage food insecurity, many study participants carefully managed food spending, dedicated substantial time to visiting stores and accessing food pantries, and relied on a public benefits cycle that left many without sufficient financial resources at the end of each month.

Building El Barrio Bikes: Lessons from a Community Bicycling Collaborative.

BACKGROUND: Community collaboratives have been shown to be effective in changing environments and systems to promote health by facilitating and coordinating programs, services, and practices. East Harlem, a New York City neighborhood, recently experienced a growth in bicycling infrastructure and resources. However, community concerns raised about safety, equity, and inclusion highlighted the need for a coordinated effort to reduce barriers to biking. OBJECTIVES: To describe the formation of and activities of El Barrio Bikes, a community biking collaborative by providing examples of community engagement strategies, evaluation methods, and lessons learned. METHODS: A values-driven community engagement framework was used to form a multi-sector community collaborative to reduce barriers to biking in East Harlem. El Barrio Bikes conducted monitoring and evaluation activities to evaluate community engagement strategies used, to ensure that the group's goals were being met, and to make improvements or adjustments when needed. RESULTS: The use of a community engagement framework was critical to the evolution of El Barrio Bikes from a group of individual partners to a model of shared leadership. Collaborative decision-making, extensive outreach efforts, and feedback surveys were time-intensive, but essential in in developing a sustainable and equitable partnership. CONCLUSIONS: Carefully selected community engagement strategies were integral to the success of creating a community biking collaborative to promote biking. Collaboration between community stakeholders can strengthen community ties and power, which are key to implementing an effective strategy to reducing barriers to biking in East Harlem.

In-classroom physical activity and its impact on physical activity outside of school in a Hispanic community.

BACKGROUND: School-based physical activity programs can reach large populations of at-risk children however evidence for the sustainability of healthy behaviors as a result of these programs is mixed. Healthy Schools Healthy Families (HSHF) is a physical activity and nutrition program for elementary students in a predominantly minority community. The program includes short teacher led classroom-based physical activities, also known as Transition Exercises (TE). Our aim was to assess whether TE was associated with children's reported recreational physical activity outside of school. METHODS: We surveyed HSHF students in grade 5 (n = 383) about their recreational physical activity at the start and end of the school year. Multivariable analysis was used to determine what factors including TE contributed to their reported activity. RESULTS: Students were predominantly Hispanic with a mean age of 10 ± .03. There was an increase in reported recreational physical activity from the start to the end of the school year (73.6% to 82.4%, P < .05). Students who participated in more TE had a 2.75 times greater odds of reporting participation in recreational activity than students who participated in less TE. CONCLUSIONS: For students in HSHF, TE was significantly associated with an increase in recreational physical activity.