United Way Launches $1.6 million Public Education Campaign to Help Boston-Area Kids Make Positive Nutrition Choices

BOSTON - United Way of Massachusetts Bay (UWMB) today announced that it will lead a $1.6 million campaign to promote nutrition and physical fitness resources for Boston-area children. At a press conference held at The .406 Club at Fenway Park in Boston, Marilyn Anderson Chase, senior vice president of Community Impact for UWMB, announced that this UWMB initiative will focus on providing information and tools that will help kids make positive nutritional and behavioral choices in order to reduce obesity rates and improve the health of children across the region. UWMB received funding for this campaign out of the Massachusetts Vitamin Litigation settlement.

"Over the past several months, we have investigated the many programs, services, and products available on nutrition issues to formulate our approach," commented Chase. "This effort is not intended to add more noise to an increasingly crowded media market by creating yet another voice. Instead, we plan to bring the best of the best - those programs and initiatives who have demonstrated an ability to facilitate and monitor behavioral changes - under a unified umbrella."

To accomplish these objectives, a "blueprint for action" was created, outlining broad-based media and grass roots efforts targeted towards school aged kids, as well as the development of products and tools that engage community stakeholders to help support healthy lifestyles among youth. These efforts will be done in collaboration with Boston Medical Center, Tufts University and the Northeastern University Center for Urban Youth Sports and will be distributed to after-school programs and community groups throughout the Boston area.

UWMB also announced the formation of a community advisory committee comprising professionals and leaders in medicine, business, academia and non-profit organizations, to support and advise United Way and it's participating programs throughout the effort. The Committee, which is continuing to recruit members, will include prominent leaders such as Dr. Steve Gortmaker of Harvard School of Public Health, Peter Meade of Blue Cross Blue Shield, Dr. Charles Steinberg of the Boston Red Sox, Kevin Fitzgerald of Northeastern University Center for Sport in Society and Lisa Unsworth of The Ad Club.

"The leadership on the Advisory Committee represents a partnership between health officials, child behavior experts and corporate leaders," stated Chase. "We will be seeking additional partners from a broad range of sources to help guide our efforts and to provide input on devising a program that will encourage children to make better choices about food and exercise."

UWMB's announcement was followed by a "Coaches Forum" which brought together coaches, teachers, and community leaders from Greater Boston for a forum on nutrition and physical fitness issues affecting kids. Medical experts including Dr. Steve Durant, of Mass. General Hospital, Jim Rowe, Head Trainer for the Boston Red Sox, Vivien Morris of Boston Medical Center and Brian Fitzgerald of Children's Hospital were on-hand to provide tips, tools and techniques to help coaches and program leaders as they work to get kids engaged in this initiative.