Jump Start  Jackson (JSJ) is a childhood obesity prevention partnership project led by My Brother’s Keeper, Inc. (MBK) and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The current partnership consists of: MBK, Alcorn State University Cooperative Extension Program, City of Jackson Department of Parks and Recreation, Jackson State University Center for University-based Development, the Mississippi State Department of Health Office of Preventive Health and the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi.

As part of RWJF’s Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities (HKHC) initiative, JSJ focuses on reducing childhood obesity by improving access to healthy foods and increasing opportunities for physical activity for children and adolescents (and t heir families). RWJF HKHC initiative supports community-based programs such as JSJ that focus on strategies—especially policy and environmental systems changes—to advance active living and healthy eating among children and adolescents (and their families). HKHC places special emphasis on reaching children who are at highest risk of obesity on the basis of income, race/ethnicity or geographic location.

JSJ is based around a cultural revolution for health and wellness that will fundamentally change the health behaviors of children and adolescents in the City of Jackson and beyond. This will be accomplished by (1) increasing access to affordable healthy foods for low income disadvantaged children and adolescents (and their families) through the development of community gardens and a mobile farmers market; (2) development Safe Routes To Schools enable children and adolescents to walk or bike to school; (3) supporting healthy eating and active living policy changes within community and legislative institutions that influence the daily lives of its citizens; and (5) enabling community institutions to make environmental changes in order to improve the quality of life for its citizens.