Umap the Community
Using an aerial map provided by the Nashua Regional Planning Commission, participants identified places
in Nashua where they go for recreation, to hang out, or spend time with their family and friends,
identifying these locations with a green dot on the map. They answered a series of questions about why
they chose these particular places, how they traveled there, and what activities they did during their visit.
In addition, the youth identified areas in the city where they felt safety aspects such as lighting, trash pick
up, and a public safety presence would improve the area, identifying these locations with a red dot on the
map. The data was then loaded onto an electronic map with the photographs for display and analysis.
Project Exhibit & Presentations
The photographs and map were exhibited for one week at the Nashua Public Library during the Nashua
Art Walk event. A reception for the participants, their families, and invited city and non-profit officials was
held with youth sharing their perspectives on the project. The exhibit was also displayed in the rotunda at
Nashua City Hall, and a presentation by the youth was made to the Nashua Board of Alderman.
HN. HEALTHY EATING ACTIVE LIVING RESEARCH
Nationally an estimated 34% of adults and 15-20% of children are obese. “Chronic illness is on the rise
worldwide and is the leading cause of death in the United States. We also now know that parks provide
immense health and wellness benefits — everything from stress reduction and improved mental health, to
less exposure to air and noise pollution. Great parks offer what we might consider as traditional wellness
amenities (recreational trails, fitness stations and the like) but also use care to integrate the healing
power of natural systems.” (1)
The 2016 Recreation Access in NH Communities: A Preliminary Report prepared by NH Healthy Eating
Active Living, Active Recreation Workgroup cites that while NH ranks overall as one of the healthiest
states in the county, there are pockets of neighborhood-level health inequities. “Notably, physical activity
levels vary substantially across the state; lower levels of leisure-time physical activity and higher
prevalence of obesity and diabetes are observed among persons of lower socio-economic status, those
living in rurally-isolated areas of the state, and those living in the most racially and ethnically diverse
urban neighborhoods (2-4).”
Recreation areas or spaces allow residents to more easily be physically active and “forge social
connections with others in their community,” and if people live near parks or in walkable neighborhoods
with sidewalks, trails, and bike routes, they are more likely to be active. (5) The Active Recreation
Workgroup also wrote, “Prior research suggests that moderate-to-vigorous physical activity is more likely
to occur in parks that have athletic courts, sports fields, and playgrounds (6).
