Thirty-six percent of Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s fifth, seventh and ninth graders are overweight or obese, according to the California Healthy Kids Survey. The Go For Health! Collaborative, an effort of United Way of Santa Cruz County, has just been awarded a $360,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to address the health problems amongst youth in the Watsonville/Pajaro Valley area. Forty-one places across the country were selected as recipients of the grant as part of the foundation’s Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities initiative. Go For Health! plans to put the money to work increasing opportunities for physical activity and access to healthier foods—like the copious fruits and vegetables being grown in neighboring fields.
