June 2015 - Parks & Recreation - 63

Staff Spotlight:
Zarnaaz Bashir, MPH

T

his month's Parks & Recreation magazine is our Health and Wellness
Pillar issue, and as such, it behooves us to highlight NRPA's Director
of Strategic Health Initiatives, Zarnaaz Bashir, MPH. Among her colleagues, friends and family, Bashir is known as smart, capable, kind and
passionate about eating healthfully and exercising. First in the public health realm
and now in the park and recreation industry, Bashir translated that passion into
a career of advocating for policies and programs that make it easier for children,
adults and seniors to adopt healthy lifestyles. We recently caught up with the cycling and Zumba aficionado to learn more about what drives her commitment to
health and wellness.
Parks & Recreation magazine: What
initially sparked your interest in
public health?
Zarnaaz Bashir: I was always a science-oriented kid. My father was a
physician and a huge role model for
me. I thought I would follow his footsteps with a medical career, but then I
took a medical sociology class in college that blew me away. It introduced
me to the field of public health. What I
loved about it is its focus on prevention
and the impact public health has community-wide, not just with individuals.
P&R: How did you then make the
connection to parks and recreation?
Bashir: I became very interested in
community health and helping communities adopt healthy behaviors. A
colleague of mine had recommended that I join NRPA's health team,
which was very intriguing to me
because I had not considered parks
and recreation as a traditional health
provider. I was used to working with
health departments and hospitals.
P&R: Give an example of one of the
most inspiring/effective health and
wellness programs you've seen
during your time at NRPA.

	

Bashir: ACHIEVE (Action Communities for Health, Innovation, and
EnVironmental changE) really put
parks and recreation on the map in
the public health world. It was a program funded by the CDC to build
local coalitions, led by the park and
recreation agency, and create healthier
communities through changes to policies and the built environment. We
had grantees implementing smoking
bans in parks, impacting thousands
of residents. We had communities replacing vending machines in schools
with healthier options, and parks
improving trails to better connect to
underserved communities. It was an
amazing model that focused on making changes that were sustainable and
institutionalized. The program completed in 2012, yet we still hear from
grantees on their continued successes.
P&R: What do you see as the
largest barriers preventing people
from adopting healthier lifestyles?
Bashir: I knew someone who had
progressively gained a lot of weight
over a period of a few years. Everyone was telling her to go to the gym,
reduce the junk food, etc. It's so
easy to say that. And it didn't work.

After years of living an unhealthy
lifestyle, we came to realize that she
was dealing with some very serious
personal issues at home and was severely depressed. I think a number
of barriers exist that inhibit people
from making healthier choices, such
as being low-income and living in a
food desert. But one that we don't
talk about much is mental health
and well-being. We talk a lot about
getting healthy by eating right and
incorporating physical activity into
our everyday routines, and we assume that it's easy for everyone....
We need to pay more attention to
the factors in people's lives that are
preventing them from being healthy
- depression and anxiety being
among them.
P&R: Why do you feel parks so integral to the health and wellness of
individuals and communities?
Bashir: This is what's so great
about parks and recreation. Getting healthy outdoors is known to
improve people's mental health and
overall well-being. Connecting to
nature just makes people feel good.
We don't talk enough about the
mental health benefits of parks and
green space enough, but it's so critical and obvious.
- Samantha Bartram, Executive Editor
of Parks & Recreation magazine

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