State Grant to Pay For Nutrition Board at Softball Field

A Texas Tech institute has received a state grant for obesity prevention outreach.

The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Garrison Institute on Aging received a $53,000 grant to fund and expand projects conducted by Healthy Lubbock.

The funding, which comes from the Texas Department of State Health Services Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity Prevention Program, allows the group to institute a permanent environmental policy change at the South Plains Girls Fastpitch fields, by adding nutrition values such as calories, saturated fat, and sodium at the concession area.

Healthy Lubbock and the City of Lubbock have also placed signage along the paved sidewalks at the softball fields, guiding individuals along a ¾-mile walking trail at the fields.

“Providing nutritional information to community members is one step in preventing obesity, high blood pressure, and other diseases,” said Annette Boles, assistant director of the Garrison Institute on Aging. “Having menu boards that identify the nutritional value of the foods that are being offered, consumers may select a different item if they see that the sodium is high, if they have high blood pressure, for example.”

Healthy Lubbock is a program of the Garrison Institute on Aging.