Palm Springs joins county's Blue Zones Activate initiative to make city a healthier place
The key to living a longer and healthier life might be found in Palm Springs now that the city will participate in Blue Zones Activate, an initiative focused on community-wide well-being.
The city announced Tuesday it is working with the Blue Zones team on a readiness and feasibility assessment as the first step to determine how to make Palm Springs a healthier place to live, work and grow older. Initial plans to work with the Blue Zones Project began back in 2021.
Blue zones research examines areas of the world where people live much longer than average. Ikaria, Greece; Okinawa, Japan; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Sardinia, Italy; and Loma Linda, California, are considered blue zones by the company.
Teams of scientists found the five blue zones share nine characteristics that contribute to longer lives:
Movement is more natural
Residents know their purpose
They have routines to de-stress
They stop eating when they’re 80% full
They don't eat as much meat
They have one to two glasses of wine a day
They belong to faith-based communities
They keep family close
They find social circles that support healthy behaviors.
"We are very excited to join this compelling initiative and help Palm Springs become a healthier and more desirable place to live," Palm Springs Mayor Grace Garner said in a statement. "The Blue Zones Activate Assessment will enable us to identify a range of issues that will help us align our current efforts with the proven Blue Zones best practices. It dovetails perfectly with our current ongoing healthy living and sustainable living efforts, including programs created by our departments of Parks and Recreation, Sustainability and Recycling, and Office of Neighborhoods. We are inspired to identify new ways that we can improve the quality of life of our residents and visitors."
Blue Zones is also conducting feasibility studies in other Riverside County locations, including Coachella, Riverside, Banning and the unincorporated areas of Mead Valley and French Valley. In a previous interview with The Desert Sun, Dr. Shunling Tsang, deputy public health officer at Riverside University Health, said Coachella was identified as a "good candidate" to become a blue zone because of the work it has already been doing to provide access to "healthy choices" for its residents.
During the assessment phase, the company will educate and collaborate with local leaders and residents, evaluate the community’s current state of well-being and identify its strengths, challenges and opportunities, according to the company's website. After the study, Blue Zones will work with the city to create a transformation plan that has the potential to drive improvements in well-being, reductions in health care costs and improve economic vitality in the area, according to a press release.
More information can be found at bluezones.com/activate-palm-springs
The company states that participating communities have seen significant drops in obesity and smoking rates, economic investment in downtown areas, grant funding awards to support health equity policies and programs and health care cost savings. The Beach Cities Health District, consisting of Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach, reported that since partnering with the Blue Zones Project in 2010, there has been a 19% increase in exercise, 29% decrease in overweight residents, 42% drop in smoking and 4% drop in daily stress.
Ema Sasic covers entertainment and health in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at ema.sasic@desertsun.com or on Twitter @ema_sasic.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Palm Springs joins Blue Zones initiative to make city healthier
