Summer 2026 Nutrition Notes
Prevention Starts Here
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July is National Park and Recreation Month, a time that highlights the vital role parks, trails, green spaces, and outdoor environments play in supporting healthier communities. Living in Asheville, North Carolina, I am fortunate to live near many beautiful trails, including having the ability to hike straight out from my front door onto the Blue Ridge Parkway, which links to one of my favorites, the Mountains to Sea Trail. Spanning from the mountains of Western North Carolina to the shores of Eastern North Carolina, it's a trail I return to often, mostly in the stretches closest to home.
Opportunities for movement and recreation are often deeply connected to the places where we live, work, play, and gather. Access to parks, walking paths, outdoor recreation, and community spaces can support active lifestyles and encourage long-term habits that contribute to chronic disease prevention and overall wellbeing. At the same time, these opportunities are not always equally accessible for all communities, which is why public health investment in the built environment, including innovations like rails-to-trails projects, remains so important.
Chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity continue to affect millions of individuals and families across the country. While these conditions are complex, we know that diet and physical activity are large determinants of these diseases. At CNHI, we recognize that designing effective interventions, advancing sound policy, and rigorously measuring outcomes are all essential to promoting diet and physical activity, and to building a healthier next generation.
National Park and Recreation Month serves as an important reminder that our health is shaped not only by individual choices, but also by the environments surrounding us every day. Parks, trails, recreation spaces, local food systems, and community-centered programs all help create stronger, more connected communities where people can thrive. At CNHI, we remain committed to advancing work that makes these conditions possible.
Prevention starts long before a diagnosis. It begins in our communities, our environments, and the systems that support healthier living every day.
Dr. Amy Yaroch (left) pictured next to her husband on a hike in her local community.
Prevention starts long before a diagnosis. It begins in our communities, our environments, and the systems that support healthier living every day.
