Competition in Fight against Obesity

HealthPartners and ChildObesity180 Seek the Best in Innovative School Physical Activity Programs as Part of National Competition in Fight against Obesity

Reuters, Tue Feb 7, 2012 12:17pm EST

First Lady Michelle Obama encourages schools to participate in video message
HealthPartners is proud to announce our support of the Active Schools Acceleration Project’s (ASAP) Innovation Competition, an initiative of ChildObesity180. Announced by First Lady Michelle Obama Tuesday, ASAP’s Innovation Competition is designed to identify, reward, and scale the very best approaches and technological innovations in school-based physical activity.

The contest will award a total of $500,000 in prizes, with individual awards of up to $100,000 for school-based programs and technological innovations that promote physical activity for children. The winners will be judged on creativity, impact, and potential for scale. In addition to monetary awards, top winners will participate in fully-funded pilot studies aimed at expanding both reach and impact.

The competition will accept submissions from February 7, 2012 through April 2, 2012. All competition details and a message from the First Lady can be found at www.ActiveSchoolsASAP.org.

HealthPartners has worked to improve the health and well-being of our community through innovative, evidence-based workplace programs, through our yumPower better-for-you eating initiative. Because of that, being one of 13 leading health plans nationally to partner with ChildObesity180 to recognize and expand school-based physical activity programs was a natural fit.

Nearly one third of children and adolescents in the U.S. are overweight or obese according to data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. HealthPartners is currently working with Twin Cities public schools and providing students with fruit and vegetable trackers to encourage students to incorporate fresh food in their diets and help them learn to eat well at an early age.

“Childhood obesity is an issue of particular concern to HealthPartners,” says Donna Zimmerman, HealthPartners senior vice president of government and community relations. “Research shows that habits developed at a young age often last a lifetime, so this is a great opportunity to help reverse the obesity epidemic in our community and our nation.”

ASAP is calling for entries from schools, teachers, technology developers, entrepreneurs – anyone with a passion and a plan to get students active and healthy. The competition features two categories: “School Programs” and “Technology Innovation.”

Teachers, schools, or entire districts are encouraged to submit their in-school physical activity programs to the competition in the “School Programs” category. This may include any curriculum, activity, environmental modification, event, or other initiative that promotes quality school-time physical activity and is currently being implemented with their students.

Winners of the “Technology Innovation” category will demonstrate how their existing or emerging technology can be used to inspire kids to be physically active. This may include devices, tracking and measurement systems, software applications, innovative uses of social media, gaming, smart phones, and more.

“Many schools have found creative ways to incorporate physical activity into the daily routine of their students, helping them to build lifelong healthy habits,” said Christina Economos, PhD, Vice-Chair and Director of ChildObesity180, and a leading researcher in the field of childhood obesity prevention. "This competition is about recognizing those champions and identifying opportunities to bring their innovative solutions to scale."

“We believe that the Innovation Competition is an excellent complement to other obesity-prevention initiatives HealthPartners has championed, including our yumPower better-for-you dinning app for iPhone users and our TrackWell app to help keep track of daily activity. We are proud to partner with ChildObesity180 in support of this exciting initiative,” Zimmerman said.

About HealthPartners
Founded in 1957, the HealthPartners (www.healthpartners.com) family of health care companies serves more than 1.36 million medical and dental health plan members nationwide. It is the largest consumer-governed, nonprofit health care organization in the nation providing care, coverage, research and education to improve the health of members, patients and the community. HealthPartners is the top-ranked commercial health plan in Minnesota and is also ranked in the top 25 in the nation according to NCQA's Health Insurance Plan Rankings 2011-12 - private.

About ChildObesity180
Active Schools Acceleration Project (ASAP) is an initiative of ChildObesity180, an organization which fosters cross-sector collaboration through a portfolio of high-impact initiatives which aim to reverse the trend of childhood obesity within one generation’s time. The ChildObesity180 membership is comprised of national leaders from the public, nonprofit, academic, and private sectors who are using their reach and expertise to drive an integrated national strategy of high-impact initiatives to prevent childhood obesity. ChildObesity180 is chaired by Peter Dolan, former CEO of Bristol Myers Squibb. Leading childhood obesity researcher Christina Economos, PhD, serves as the Vice-Chair and Director, and Miriam Nelson, PhD, as the Co-Director. Drs. Economos and Nelson are faculty of the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. Founded in 2009, ChildObesity180 is conducted in collaboration with Tufts University; the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation serves as a core strategic partner. For more information about ChildObesity180, visit www.ChildObesity180.org.

HealthPartners
Sarah Haverkamp, 952-883-5305Sarah.j.haverkamp@healthpartners.com
or
ChildObesity180
Tufts University
Julia Bloom Herzog, 617-636-3563Julia.Bloom@tufts.edu
or
Nate Whitman, 617-636-6818Nathaniel.Whitman@tufts.edu