Seafood Nutrition Partnership Launches National Public Health Education Campaign

WASHINGTON, Oct. 7, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Seafood Nutrition Partnership (SNP) is launching a first-of-its-kind, three-year public health education campaign across the country to help the underserved and all Americans better understand the nutritional benefits of eating seafood and its positive impact on improving heart health.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, taking the lives of more Americans prematurely than any other preventable disease. The grassroots education campaign launches in nine cities this October, National Seafood Month, and aims to encourage Americans, especially the underserved, to eat seafood twice a week, as recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which research has shown can lower the risk of heart disease by 36 percent.

Last year, the Seafood Nutrition Partnership concluded its Eating Heart Healthy pilot program conducted in partnership with Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston targeting low-income women with a high rate of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

The program was designed to help women curb their risk of heart disease through a seafood-rich diet. For four weeks, female residents of Roxbury Tenants of Harvard (RTH), a nonprofit affordable-housing community for low- and moderate-income families, participated in heart health-focused talks and cooking demonstrations, sampled omega-3 capsules, and were provided seafood recipes that can feed a family of four for $10 per meal.

At the end of the program, it was estimated that 92 percent of participants lowered their risk of sudden cardiac death, and 6 in 10 participants were at a lower risk for general cardiac problems.

"I try to eat well, but it's difficult to cook healthy meals when you work full-time," said Jacquie Boston, an Eating Heart Healthy program participant and resident of RTH. "The Eating Heart Healthy program transformed my life and my family's life. Now, I have the skills to prepare heart-healthy meals."

Based on the success of the pilot Eating Heart Healthy program, American Heart Association recently awarded a Go Red for Women grant to support the effort Boston, as the program expands this year to Seattle, Washington, D.C., and several other cities. 

The launch of SNP's national public health education campaign this month follows the success of pilots in Memphis, TN and Indianapolis, IN, last year. SNP partnered with local chefs, stakeholders, community leaders and health professionals to host cooking demonstrations, free health screenings to check omega-3 levels, week-long restaurant events, and to distribute free health education literature and recipes highlighting the nutritional benefits of seafood.

The campaign is focused on helping Americans, particularly the underserved, in nine cities: Birmingham, Alabama; Charleston, West Virginia; Golden Isles, Georgia; Indianapolis, Indiana; Jacksonville, Florida; Lexington, Kentucky; Memphis, Tennessee; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Toledo, Ohio.

"The USDA HHS dietary guidelines recommend eating seafood twice a week for optimal health, yet only 1 in 10 Americans follow this advice," said Linda Cornish, Executive Director, Seafood Nutrition Partnership. "We hope to inspire a healthier America by promoting a nutrient-rich diet that includes seafood." 

As part of the campaign launch, SNP is making available a white paper, "Breaking Barriers: Empowering America's Underserved with Resources and Access to a Healthy Diet," highlighting the health crisis among Americans, and particularly the underserved, who too often lack access to healthy foods, including seafood.

The Seafood Nutrition Partnership (SNP) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose mission is to inspire a healthier America through partnerships that raise awareness about the essential nutritional benefits of eating seafood. SNP, a member of the Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) Roundtable, leads education efforts to help Americans gain the skills to select, order and prepare fish and shellfish, and to inspire a healthier America by promoting a nutrient-rich diet that includes seafood. For more information, visit seafoodnutrition.org.  

SNP Partners: Brigham & Women's Hospital, National Institutes of Health – The HeartTruth, USDA ChooseMyPlate.gov, NOAA FishWatch, Roxbury Tenants of Harvard, Royal DSM, Trident Seafoods, Gorton's, High Liner Foods, Mazzetta Company, Bumble Bee Seafoods, National Fisheries Institute, American Seafoods, Rich Foods Corporation, Long John Silver's, King & Prince Seafood, Glacier Fish Company, Eastern Fish Company, Fortune Fish & Gourmet, Censea, Harbor Seafood, FoodDay, GOED, Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, Nutrisavings, President's Challenge, PNW, Provant, PNW Seafood 101, SPE Certified, Together Counts, SeaShare, Captain D's, Sam's Club, Publix, Red Lobster, Morey's, Odyssey Enterprises, Slade Gorton, Tampa Maid Foods, Clear Springs Foods, SIRE, Stavis Seafoods, Handy, Icicle Seafoods, Ocean Beauty Seafoods, Harvest Select, Seabreeze Seafoods, Global Seas, Phillips Lytle, Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers, F.W. Bryce, Beacon Fisheries, Nuts Over Fish, Indiana Soybean Alliance, Soy Aquaculture Alliance, OmegaQuant, Diversified Communications, Tsunami, American Cancer Society, Hyatt Regency Boston, Wiley's, Colavita, ASMI, GAPP, MSC, AGR Partners, Chicken of the Sea, Darden, Global Aquaculture Alliance, Ipswich Shellfish Company, Orca Bay Seafoods, Pacific Andes, Preferred Freezer Services, ProFish, Sea Port Products, Seafood Exchange of Florida, and Seattle Fish Company.

SOURCE Seafood Nutrition Partnership

Related Links

http://www.seafoodnutrition.org