The Kern County Public Health Services Department launched the Know Your Numbers program in Ridgecrest on Thursday at Ridgecrest Salvation Army. 

This traveling program offers two health screenings informing participants of their body mass index, blood pressure, blood glucose, and cholesterol levels both before and after six weeks of nutrition coaching from our Public Health Nutritionist and fitness classes. 

The program runs every Thursday at 151 N. Downs Street in Ridgecrest from 10:00 to 11:00AM, June 30 through August 11, 2022, to take advantage of this free program.

Kern County has some of the highest rates of obesity and mortality due to chronic health conditions in California.  Specifically, 78% of Kern County’s adults are either overweight or obese and Kern County suffers from the highest rates of deaths due to diabetes than anywhere else in the State. 

“Together we can create a healthier community and improve our overall quality of life. Public Health announced our 2022 Call to Action earlier this year to help improve the overall health of our community and we encourage everyone to visit our website to learn more,” Kern County Public Health said in a news release.

Know Your Numbers is just one of several initiatives geared at improving the overall health of Kern County residents. Other initiatives include:

• Certified Healthy – This program empowers residents to choose local restaurants that offer healthier more nutritious meal options.  “Certified Healthy” restaurants have met our ten nutrition criteria.  To find Certified Healthy restaurants near you, download our free Safe Diner App.

• Waste Hunger Not Food – This program rescues wholesome food from schools, restaurants, and markets that would have otherwise been wasted and distributes it to those in need