Battling chronic disease in New Orleans through sport

The rise of non-communicable diseases in low and middle income populations has become relevant in both developing and developed contexts. In higher income countries, under-resourced populations of low socio-economic status demonstrate chronic disease rates disproportionately higher than populations of higher income.

In New Orleans, Louisiana, where 26% of the total population is impoverished and 84% of public school students are eligible for free and reduced lunch, this trend plays out dramatically. With a city-wide obesity rate of 32%, a startling 12.3% of New Orleans adults have been diagnosed with diabetes – an estimated 40% higher than the national average. The rate of hypertension in the city is approximately 39%, a rate also significantly higher than the US rate of 28.7%.

In recent years, a plethora of community based physical activity programmes have been implemented by local non-profit organisations and the New Orleans Recreation Development Commission to address this issue. These programmes, which reach hundreds of children each year, have made major strides in engaging young people in regular physical activity. In a city where rates of daily physical activity have been abysmally low, youth are becoming increasingly physically active.

The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation USA (Laureus USA) recognises the tremendous momentum in New Orleans towards the use of sport to positively impact community health. With key partners, Laureus USA will invest significant financial resources to implement strategic programming that shines a spotlight on New Orleans as a “model city”, fully embracing sport as a tool for social change. Cross-sector collaborations in New Orleans will capitalise on the power of sport to not only increase physical activity and health outcomes, but also create lasting social-emotional development that will enable children to grow into happy and productive members of society.

During the ten-year model city Initiative, Laureus USA will make direct grants to sport for development organisations and engage local funders to provide additional support, while intentionally building capacity towards transitioning long-term ownership of key fundraising and sustainability to local stakeholders. Local engagement in this way will provide supportive resources while ultimately placing the population’s health into its own hands.

Laureus USA embarks on this initial Model City Initiative in New Orleans with the goal of sparking ten model cities throughout the country by 2025. The ultimate aim is to use sport as a tool for social change to positively impact the social-emotional and physical health of individuals and to help turn the tide against non-communicable diseases among under-served populations nationally.