San Marcos is looking for ways for its residents to live longer, healthier lives. On Tuesday, the city announced that it is partnering with the Blue Zones Project to develop a plan to achieve that.
The term “Blue Zones” describes communities where people live very long lives. The Blue Zones Project says diet and exercise are some of the reasons, along with low stress and rich social interactions.
It was popularized by author Dan Buettner, who produced the Emmy Award-winning documentary "Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones."
Some scientists have criticized Blue Zone theory, saying it's based on weak demographic data. But others also note the behaviors it recommends are consistent with other research on how diet, activity and social-emotional well-being affect overall health.
The city is calling its initiative Blue Zones Ignite. San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones said it will start with an assessment. "In the next six months, what we will be doing is reaching out to the community, let them know what we're doing, and then again, bringing everyone together,” she said.
To help with the assessment, San Marcos is also partnering with health care providers, such as TrueCare and Gary and Mary West PACE.
TrueCare family and lifestyle medicine doctor Dr. Jorge Otañez is one of the few certified Blue Zone physicians in the county. He said it means he has a holistic approach to medicine and “a deeper understanding of what truly matters, and you understand that it's not just the decisions that people make, it's the environment."
To have a healthy community, health care cannot exist in a silo, he said.
"I can have a patient and say like, 'Eat healthy, exercise, do this,'" Otañez said. "But if they don't have the space, if they don't have access to healthy food, open spaces to exercise ... then, you know, nothing's going to change, right? "
PACE's Community Outreach Director, Mary Jurgensen, said that if the goal is to develop a healthy populace, the planning needs to involve the whole community.
"Because it will ensure that not only for today, (but) we will have some improved policies and even, infrastructure in the city, to improve access to things such as transportation, healthy food and choices for many years to come,” she said.
With plenty of trails and parks, San Marcos already has a lot of what it takes to be a Blue Zone city. The assessment is to find out what it doesn't have.
“Many of the things could be very easily (done) like a policy of something that we can't actually achieve today, but we know in the near future we would be able to,” Jones said.
The assessment will cost an estimated $150,000. Jones said it’s all paid for by private donors.
