Group to look at ways to encourage active living in Boiling Springs

By Alyssa Mulliger
Go Upstate Staff Writer

A Boiling Springs coalition is exploring the connection between physical environment and public health in the area to learn how to encourage a more active, healthy community.

The group — Building a Healthy Boiling Springs Cohort — includes about a dozen individuals of different ages and backgrounds who represent diverse sectors within the community, from residents and business owners to educators and health care professionals.

 With help from a Mary Black Foundation grant, Spartanburg-based Upstate Forever and the Upstate Family Resource Center partnered to create the group to look at ways to increase active living in Boiling Springs.

The new group will meet monthly through April to hear from guest speakers and visit other communities to learn how to incorporate physical activity and healthy eating into Boiling Springs’ environment, said Sherry Barrett, community design and land planning manager with Upstate Forever.

The group also will look into barriers to active living and ways to encourage development and redevelopment projects that support community health, Barrett said.

“The idea is improving public health in the community,” she said. “There has been a trend over the years showing an obesity epidemic in Spartanburg County. Communities that develop in more walkable and bike-friendly ways are shown to have a positive health impact on the people who live there.”