Be Active Outdoors and Indoors this Autumn Season

Autumn often requires us to make changes in our lifestyle or routine due to weather, school activities, and upcoming holidays. Create habits to help you and your children stay

healthy and safe throughout your lives.

Make fall yard work fun. Have kids come up with different ways to pick up leaves or pine cones (such as squatting, bending, leaning, stretching, or balancing on one foot). Sing, dance, and explore. Provide kids with rakes and other tools that are kid-sized for comfort and safety. For indoor fun, play board games and computer games that en-courage physical activity. Have a song-and-dance talent show. Draw, color, and explore with health in mind. Remember that children and adolescents should be active for at least 1 hour a day, and adults for at least 2½ hours a week.

For more information and tips please visit http://www.cdc.gov/family/parentautumn/index.htm

I N T H I S I S S U E :

Message from the Executive Director

Ms. Ngozi

BPN Mission Statement

NYS Marketplace Information

Active Living outdoors and indoors

BPN Highlights

Brooklyn Task Force Coalition Info.

“Temptation at the Checkout”

October National Breast Cancer Aware-

ness Month

Women’s Health Tips

Contact Information

BPN Services

Open Enorllment

Autumn Healthy and Wholesome reci-

pes

Happy Holidays Message

 

A Message from BPN TB  Updated Ngozi  Moses, Execu ve Director, BPN  

 

 

 

 

 

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1 I

O C T – D E C 2 0 1 4

Newsletter

Ngozi Moses, Executive Director Dr. Louis D. Camilien, Board Chairper-

son LaTrella Penny, Board Vice-Chairperson

Bettie Mays, Board Secretary

BPN is committed to: Improving the health and well-

being of children, youth, parents, individuals (males and females) and families through linkages to culturally appropriate services to

optimize health Identifying & developing needed resources facilitating collabora-tion & partnership to coordinate services and affect public policy.

Important NYS Marketplace infor‐ma on for 2015 Open Enrollment 

Ifyou’reenrolledina2014Market-placeplan,yourbene ityearendsDecember31,2014.Tocontinuehealthcoveragein2015,youcanrenewyourcurrenthealthplanorchooseanewhealthplanthroughtheMarketplaceduringthe2015OpenEnrollmentperiod.WhathappensifIhavenocover-agein2015?Ifyoudon’thavehealthcoverageduring2015,youmayhavetopayafee.Thefeein2015ishigherthanitwasin2014—2%ofyourincomeor$325peradult/$162.50perchild,whicheverismore.ImportantDates:TheOpenEnrollmentperiodfor2015coverageisNovember15,2014toFebruary15,2015.

P A G E 2

The Brooklyn Task Force on Infant and Maternal Mortality and Family Health

A coalition of Community-Based Organizations (CBO) was formed in 2000.

●●●

The Brooklyn Task Force on Infant and Maternal and Family Health

Chair: Dr Georgianna Glose, DSW Convener /Coordinator: Brooklyn Perinatal Network Ngozi Moses, Executive Dir. Coalition Members:

Bedford Stuyvesant Family Health Center (BSFHC)

Brooklyn Perinatal Network (BPN)

Caribbean Women’s Health Association (CWHA)

Church Avenue Merchants Block Association (CAMBA)

Diaspora Community Services (DCS)

East New York Diagnostic & Treatment Center (ENYD&TC)

Ft. Greene Strategic Neighborhood Action Partnership (Ft Greene SNAP)

Greater Brooklyn Health Coalition (GBHC)

Luther Family Health Centers (LFHC)

New Dimensions In Care (NDIC)/Christopher Rose Community Empowerment Campaign (CRCEC)

City Council funded IMRI work started in 2001

The Task Force provides a forum to engage community-based health and human service providers and other

community stakeholders, in partnerships and collaborative

activities that address the disparities in maternal health and birth outcomes

in communities of color.

BPN’s Highlights

The Pregnancy Storytelling Project  BPN has partnered with the UMass team in the recruitment and par cipa on of New York wom-

en share their pregnancy stories to create a series of videos that contain stories of His-panic and African-American women who are pregnant, or recently gave birth These videos will represent an innova ve, customized educa onal tool for La na and African Amer-ican popula ons. 

The content of the videos are sensi ve to the regional and cultural needs for the popula-on because it will be based on their feed-

back. The videos will be developed in a DVD format and will be available in digital format for web-based pla orms.

 The UMASS team just finished conduc ng all focus groups and videos na onwide and now have all of the material to complete the edi ng process. It will take a bit to process everything and get it into 2 DVD forms (African American, and Hispanic) to be proudly presented to clients and project sites.   Look out for a  sneak peak by the end of the year! We are excited to see the project come to life. 

BPN would like to extend its gra tude to partner organiza ons ho helped to recruit clients for par-cipa on in the group. The women were all truly excited to have their voiced heard!

Temptation at Checkout Have you ever made a sudden purchase of your favorite candy bar at checkout? Well CSPI (The Center for Sci-ence in the Public Interest) reports that this may an inten-tional marketing strategy by the food and beverage indus-try.

CSPI’s new report, “Sugar Overload: Retail Checkout Promotes Obesity,” examines the prevalence and health-fulness of foods and beverages in retail checkout aisles.

The report found that unhealthy food and beverages are common even in the checkout aisles of stores that are not in the business of selling food.

“Across 30 grocery stores and other retailers, we found that candy, gum, energy bars, chips, cookies, soda, and other sugar drinks comprise the majority of food and beverages at checkout. The widespread availability of junk food and sugary beverages means that even shop-

ping for clothes or books has become yet another occasion for food companies to push (unhealthy) products on people.”

For a one-page summary of “Sugar Overload: Retail Checkout Promotes Obesity,” visit:

http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/SugarOverload-1page.pdf

  Main Office 76 Nevins Street Brooklyn, New York 11217 (718-)643-8258 ● Brownsville Office 444 Thomas S Boyland St Brownsville, NY 11212 (718)-643-8258

African American Focus Group Participants in 

discussion  

P A G E 3 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1 I O C T – D E C 2 0 1 4

October is Na onal Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  Breast cancer is the second most common kind of can-cer in women. About 1 in 8 women born today in the United States will get breast cancer at some point. 

The good news is that many women can survive breast cancer if it’s found and treated early. A mammogram – the screening test for breast cancer – can help find 

breast cancer early when it’s easier to treat. 

Na onal Breast Cancer Awareness Month is a chance to raise awareness about the importance of early detec on of breast cancer. Make a difference! Spread the word about mammograms and encourage communi es, organiza ons, families, and indi-viduals to get involved. 

We can use this opportunity to spread the word about steps women can take to de-tect breast cancer early.

For More informa on visit: h p://healthfinder.gov/NHO/OctoberToolkit.aspx  

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month BPN Services and Contact Persons

718 -643 -8258

Outreach, linkages and Workshops

Services for teens, pregnant women., young adults with or without children.

Cathleen Freemantle, ext. 31

School Health Education & Peer Educa-tion Training

BPN provides school and community health presentations and information sessions; com-munity health awareness events.

Brandy Watts ext. 30 Health Insurance

Eligible or know someone eligible for Health Insurance. BPN assist with applying for NY State Health Insurance aka Obama Care for kids (called Child Health Plus) & and adults, & Medicaid .

Perinatal Health Information Technology

Anafidelia Taveres, M.D. ext 34 Rebecca Shore ext. 31 Main Office & Brownsville Office

Monica Dennie ext.19 Michael Hutchinson ext.18 Cathleen Freemantle ext. 31 BPN Newsletter Contributors

Brandy Watts, Project & Research Asso-ciate

Jane Marryshow,

Main Office 76 Nevins Street Brooklyn, New York 11217 (718-)643-8258 ● Brownsville Office 444 Thomas S Boyland St Brownsville, NY 11212 (718)-643-8258

What Can I Do to Reduce My Risk? 

Many factors can influence your breast cancer risk, and most women who develop breast 

cancer do not have any known risk factors or a history of the disease in their families. How-

ever, you can help lower your risk of breast cancer in the following ways— 

Keep a healthy weight. 

Exercise regularly (at least four hours a week). 

Get enough sleep. 

Don't drink alcohol, or limit alcoholic drinks to no more than one per day. 

Avoid exposure to chemicals that can cause cancer (carcinigens). 

Breas eed your babies, if possible. To learn more about Mammograms please visit: h p://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/detec on/

mammograms  

Breast Cancer and Health Dispari es 

African-American women are more likely than all other women to die from breast 

cancer. Their  tumors o en are  found at a  later, more advanced stage. So,  there 

are fewer treatment op ons. Some other reasons for this may  include not being 

able to get health care or not following-up a er ge ng abnormal test results. Oth-

er reasons may include distrust of the health care system, the belief that mammo-

grams  are  not  needed,  or  not  having  insurance. Also,  research  has  shown  that 

African-American  women  are more  likely  to  get  a  form  of  breast  cancer  that 

spreads more quickly.  

Women’s Health

Like Us Follow us

Facebook.com/WeareBPNetwork

 

@WeareBPNetwork

“

We’ve Gone Social!

American Diabetes Awareness Month 

November is American Diabetes Awareness Month. Diabetes is one of the leading causes of disability and death in the United States. If it’s not controlled, diabetes can cause blindness, nerve damage, kidney disease, and other health problems.

One in 12 Americans has diabetes – that’s more than 25 million people. And another 79 million adults in the United States are at high risk of devel-oping type 2 diabetes.

The good news? People who are at high risk for type 2 diabetes can lower their risk by more than half if they make healthy changes. These chang-es include: eating healthy, increasing physical activity, and losing weight.

We can use this month to raise awareness about diabetes risk factors and encourage people to make healthy changes.

How can I help spread the word?

Add information about preventing type 2 diabetes to your newsletter.

Tweet about American Diabetes Month. #AmericanDiabetesMonth

Host a community event where families can be active while learning about local health resources.

For more information visit: American Diabetes Association (http://www.diabetes.org/) For  Addi onal  Tips  for Managing  and  Preven ng  Diabetes  please  visit:  h p://ndep.nih.gov/partners-community-organiza on/na onal-diabetes-month/2014.aspx  

www.BPNetwork.org 

P A G E 4

Health Updates: EBOLA Update and Prevention

Ebola is a severe, o en fatal disease that affects humans and some animals (monkeys, gorillas and chimpanzees). It is caused by the Ebola virus.   Ebola is spread by direct contact (through broken skin or your mouth, eyes or nose) ;with Body fluids (such as blood, vomit, urine, feces and sweat) of a person sick with Ebola; and  objects soiled with the body fluids of a person sick with Ebola.  People only become contagious a er they begin to have symptoms, such as fever.  If you travel to or are in an area affected by an Ebola outbreak, make sure to do the following: 

Prac ce careful hygiene. For example, wash your hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sani zer and avoid contact with blood and 

body fluids. 

Do not handle items that may have come in contact with an infected person’s blood or body fluids (such as clothes, bedding, needles, and medical 

equipment). 

Avoid funeral or burial rituals that require handling the body of someone who has died from Ebola. 

Avoid contact with bats and nonhuman primates or blood, fluids, and raw meat prepared from these animals. 

Avoid hospitals in West Africa where Ebola pa ents are being treated. The U.S. embassy or consulate is o en able to provide advice on facili es. 

To learn more about  Monitoring Symptoms and Controlling Movement to Stop Spread of Ebola visit h p://www.cdc.gov/media/

releases/2014/fs1027-monitoring-symptoms-controlling-movement.html 

  P A G E 5

 

Enjoying Pumpkin This Fall Season

Currentresearchindicatesthatadietrichinfoodswithbeta-carotene(foundonpumpkin)mayre-

ducetheriskofdevelopingcertaintypesofcancerandoffersprotectionagainstheartdisease.Such

foodsoffersprotectionagainstotherdiseasesaswellassomedegenerativeaspectsofaging.

TrythisRoastedButternutSquashPumpkinSoupRecipe.Itiseasytomakeandfullofanexceptional

amountofnutrition

Ingredients:  2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil  1/2 cup (1/4-inch) diced onion  1/4 cup (1/4-inch) diced celery  1/4 cup (1/4-inch) diced carrot  

1 cinnamon s ck  Sea salt, preferably gray salt  Freshly ground black pepper  

About 4 cups chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth  1/2 teaspoon ground toasted coriander, op onal  

1 1/2 cups Roasted Winter Squash recipe  1/2 cup half-and-half, op onal 

Cook each side for about a minute. 

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat un l hot. Add the onion, celery, carrot, and cinnamon s ck and sauté un l so  but not brown, about 10 minutes. Season with salt, and pepper.  Add the chicken stock and the coriander, if using, and bring to a boil. Simmer for several minutes. S r in the squash un l smooth, then simmer gently to let the flavors meld, about 10 minutes. Discard the cinnamon s ck.  Puree the soup in a blender un l smooth. (The soup can be made ahead to this point, cooled, covered, and refrigerated for several days or frozen for about 1 month. It will thicken as it cools and may need thinning with stock or water when re-hea ng.)  There are many different varie es of pumpkin.  To learn  more visit h p://www.allaboutpumpkins.com/varie es.html   

Every piece of the universe, even the tiniest little snow crystal, matters somehow. I have a place in the pattern, and so do you…Thinking of you this holiday season! -- T.A. Barron

Happy Holidays From BPN