Pennsylvania 4-H and UnitedHealthcare announced a new partnership to
promote healthy living by launching a new campaign designed to empower
youth to help tackle the nation’s obesity epidemic.
Pennsylvania 4-H and UnitedHealthcare announced a new partnership to promote healthy living at the Penn State Ag Progress Days. Community leaders joined 4-H youth and UnitedHealthcare's mascot, Dr. Health E. Hound, in "healthy flash mobs" to encourage youth to participate in group dance and fitness activities that burn calories and promote health. UnitedHealthcare presented a $30,000 check to Pennsylvania 4-H to support the partnership. L to R: State Representatives Mike Tobash and Mark Longietti, 4-H State Councilmember Tyler Shaw, State Senator John Eichelberger, 4-H State Councilmember Dawn Craft, Agriculture Secretary Greg Greig, Pennsylvania 4-H Leader Christy Bartley, 4-H youth John Hess, David Brown of UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Pennsylvania, and Mike Glazer of Congressman Glenn Thompson's office. (Photo: Allison Hoover)
The partnership, called Eat4-Health, is activating thousands of 4-H
youth ambassadors to make healthy choices for themselves and encourage
friends, families and people in their communities to make positive
changes through training, creative programs and educational events. It
currently spans ten states, including Pennsylvania.
At the partnership launch in Pennsylvania, UnitedHealthcare’s mascot Dr.
Health E. Hound joined 4-H youth at Penn State's Ag Progress Days, the
state’s largest outdoor agricultural exposition, to encourage attendees
to stay active and eat healthy. By creating spontaneous “Healthy Flash
Mobs,” UnitedHealthcare and 4-H were able to get hundreds of attendees
to participate in simple, fun group dance and fitness activities
designed to burn calories and promote health.
Community leaders, including Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary George
Greig, U.S. Representative Glenn Thompson, State Senators
John Eichelberger and Gene Yaw, and State Representatives Bryan Barbin,
Gordon Denlinger, Pamela DeLissio, Mark Gillen, Deberah Kula, Mark
Longietti, Brandon Neuman, Jerry Stern and Mike Tobash, joined in the
healthy flash mobs and afterwards participated in an official
partnership announcement, where UnitedHealthcare presented a $30,000
check to Pennsylvania 4-H to launch the program.
“This is a tremendously important partnership here in Pennsylvania that
showcases how the business community and non-profit sectors are coming
together to help solve the nation’s obesity problem,” said
Representative Thompson. “I am proud of Pennsylvania 4-H for joining in
this creative grassroots approach to forge real solutions to this
serious challenge.”
Eat4-Health builds on UnitedHealthcare’s successful partnership
with 4-H that began last year in Florida, Mississippi and Texas. The
campaign is expanding to Arizona, Louisiana, Nebraska, New York, South
Carolina and Tennessee, as well as Pennsylvania. Each 4-H organization
in the state is receiving a $30,000 grant funded by UnitedHealthcare to
support healthy-living programs, events and other activities
administered by 4-H that encourage young people and their families to
eat more nutritious foods and exercise regularly.
A component of the Pennsylvania partnership includes 4-H youth competing
in “Camp Idol” competitions where they took familiar camping songs and
matched them with physical moves that add a healthy twist. The contest
winners took part in today’s event, leading the healthy flash mobs with
their newly created songs. Dr. Health E. Hound joined the 4-H Idols in
encouraging hundreds of exposition attendees to participate in
spontaneous group exercises to those songs that brought excitement and
energy to the forum. The healthy flash mobs were symbolic of how the
partnership is encouraging healthy living in communities across
Pennsylvania. Eat4-Health educational materials were also
provided to attendees to reinforce those messages.
“Pennsylvania 4-H is pleased to partner with UnitedHealthcare and launch
this new campaign to empower youth to help improve the health of their
peers, their families and their communities,” said Christy Bartley,
Pennsylvania 4-H program leader with Penn State Extension. “4-H youth
ambassadors are prepared to work with UnitedHealthcare to make a
positive impact on the health and wellness of our nation’s future
leaders. Today’s activities are an example of the creativity and
excitement 4-H youth are bringing to this campaign.”
“We are fortunate to be able to join with the young people of 4-H in the Eat4-Health
program to help make a difference in the lives of so many families in
Pennsylvania,” said Heather Cianfrocco, president of UnitedHealthcare
Community Plan of Pennsylvania. “UnitedHealthcare and 4-H look forward
to harnessing the energy and excitement of 4-H youth to promote healthy
living.”
Participating 4-H state programs receiving a grant will develop action
plans that provide innovative, hands-on learning approaches that target
specific community needs in their state. Many of these activities will
support healthy-living programs led by 4-H that encourage youth and
community participation through events such as health fairs, cooking
demonstrations, after-school programs, workshops and educational forums,
among others. UnitedHealthcare employees will team up with 4-H at many
of these events, assisting with planning and executing projects that
lead to positive, sustainable change at the community and individual
level.
As part of the Eat4-Health campaign, each state will organize and
host a Youth Summit/Conference to train 4-H youth ambassadors to
implement programs and reach the program goals in each state. The
summits will provide the venue where participants will learn more about
nutrition, health and fitness, obtain information on promoting health
within their communities, and gain new tools for participating in
multisession educational trainings and one-time community activities and
events. This teen leadership experience will also serve as a launch to a
Teen Ambassadors pledge and prepare 4-H’ers to use their increased
healthy-living knowledge and skills to make an impact in their own
communities.
Online and printed educational materials will enable participants to
learn and commit to making healthier choices. To encourage
participation, the campaign will provide simple tips for healthy choices
when food shopping, preparing home meals and school lunches, when out
with friends or at special occasions.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
obesity among children and adolescents has almost tripled since 1980,
with nearly one in every three children being overweight or obese.
Children from low-income and low-education households are three-times
more likely to be obese. America’s Health Rankings®, an annual
comprehensive assessment of the nation’s health on a state-by-state
basis, indicates that obesity is a leading risk factor for diabetes,
heart disease and many cancers. The estimated economic cost of obesity
is $270 billion per year.
4-H reaches 6 million youth each year, 2.5 million of whom participate
in healthy-living programs that promote nutrition, wellness and physical
activities. UnitedHealthcare Community & State serves more than 2.5
million children in 25 states and the District of Columbia. 4-H and
UnitedHealthcare share connections with many of the same public sector
and community organizations, including state and county governments and
school districts.
In 2011 the 4-H UnitedHealthcare partnership reached more than 40,000
youth and families in three states through hundreds of community events
and activities that included distributing positive messages about
nutrition and wellness. This was accomplished in creative venues such as
healthy-cooking demonstrations, fitness camps, youth forums and
community family days. These events were designed to empower 4-H youth
in the targeted states to help educate their families and people in
their communities about the importance of healthy living through more
nutritious diets and increased physical activity in their daily
lives. The program targeted communities in Florida, Mississippi and
Texas with the greatest need for education, outreach and resources.
About 4-H
4-H is a community of six million young people
across America learning leadership, citizenship, and life skills.
National 4-H Council is the private sector, non-profit partner of 4-H
National Headquarters located at the National Institute of Food and
Agriculture (NIFA) within USDA. 4-H programs are implemented by the 111
land-grant universities and the Cooperative Extension System through
their 3,100 local Extension offices across the country. Learn more about
4-H at www.4-H.org
or follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/4-H.
About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to
helping people nationwide live healthier lives by simplifying the health
care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and
sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. The company offers
the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers
and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with
more than 650,000 physicians and care professionals and 5,000 hospitals
nationwide. UnitedHealthcare serves more than 38 million people and is
one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified
Fortune 50 health and well-being company.
