$167,000 Grant from Anthem Blue Cross Foundation Brings Childhood Obesity Prevention to Bay Area

Jan. 13, 2011 - PRLog -- The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship (ASF) today announced it has received a $669,784, multi-year grant from the Anthem Blue Cross Foundation, of which $167,446 will be used to implement ASF’s 5-2-1-0 Healthy Kids Countdown, a childhood obesity prevention program, in California’s San Francisco Bay Area.

ASF’s 5-2-1-0 Healthy Kids Countdown is a health promotion initiative built on evidence-based messaging that emphasizes healthy nutritional choices and behaviors. The program seeks to help kids live a healthy lifestyle by asking them to do four simple things:

• Eat five fruits or vegetables per day,
• Limit screen time (TVs, computers) to two hours or less per day,
• Get one hour or more of physical activity per day, and
• Drink zero sugar-sweetened beverages per day.

Developed in 2003, the 5-2-1-0 metric has since been recommended by the American Academy of Pediatricians and adopted by wellness programs across the country.

“We’re excited to bring the 5-2-1-0 Healthy Kids Countdown to the Bay Area. We know that if we teach our kids about healthy, active lifestyles at a young age they have a greater chance of avoiding chronic health conditions such as obesity and heart disease throughout their lifetimes,” said Pam Kehaly, president of Anthem Blue Cross in California. “Childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions, and is a problem that impacts all of us in a number of ways including health care costs. This unique approach will help get at the crux of this important health care issue.”

Obesity is a serious health issue for America’s families and their children. Nearly 1 in 3 children are overweight or obese, and one-third of all children born in or after the year 2000 will suffer from diabetes. Additionally, research indicates that obesity and the resulting chronic health conditions associated with being overweight disproportionately impact people living in underserved communities, where fresh food sources are scarce and social factors make healthy lifestyles difficult to attain.

“Our hope is that through the 5-2-1-0 Healthy Kids Countdown, we will have an immediate impact on the health of underserved children and families—but that also, in the long-term, we will have equipped future health professionals and community leaders with the tools to address childhood obesity in an empowering way that emphasizes individual choices,” said ASF Executive Director Sylvia Stevens-Edouard, who played a key role in developing 5-2-1-0 during her time as the senior director of Children’s Health Initiatives at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.

ASF was selected for the grant because its Schweitzer Fellows – exceptional graduate and professional school students who dedicate themselves to addressing health disparities – have served youth and families in underserved communities for nearly two decades. Specifically, ASF’s Bay Area Schweitzer Fellows Program will use the Anthem Blue Cross Foundation grant to support stipends for Fellows and participating community-based organizations, 5-2-1-0 Healthy Kids Countdown initiative training, leadership development training, and the purchase of equipment and other materials needed to support the Schweitzer Fellows' 5-2-1-0 Healthy Kids Countdown programming in community-based organizations.

The Fellows will address childhood obesity in underserved communities head-on and will work to help make the 5-2-1-0 Healthy Kids Countdown habits a part of childrens’ lives through a comprehensive approach, including:
• Integrating 5-2-1-0 Healthy Kids Countdown activities into community health fairs;
• Featuring 5-2-1-0 messaging and programming in individual Schweitzer projects; and
• Providing children and their families with 5-2-1-0 resources, such as weekly log sheets and colorful posters that reinforce healthy lifestyle messages

Since the launch of its U.S. Fellows Program in 1991, ASF has selected and supported over 2,000 Schweitzer Fellows who have delivered more than 400,000 hours of health-focused community service. From launching a Hepatitis B initiative that has since been replicated across the country, to creating a mobile legal assistance program for rural domestic abuse victims, Fellows from many disciplines partner with community agencies to create and carry out yearlong service projects that address the social determinants of health—all on top of their regular academic
responsibilities.

“In a given program year, around 80 percent of our Schweitzer Fellows across the country create and carry out service projects related to nutrition, physical health, and obesity,” says ASF President Lachlan Forrow, MD. “Through our 5-2-1-0 Healthy Kids Countdown initiative, we’re providing our Fellows and the communities they serve with an exciting variation on a proven resource for effective health promotion.”

About Anthem Blue Cross Foundation

Through charitable grant making, the Anthem Blue Cross Foundation LLC, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Association promotes Anthem Blue Cross’s inherent commitment to enhance the health and well-being of individuals and families in communities that the company serves. The Foundation focuses its funding on strategic initiatives that address and provide innovative solutions to health care challenges, as well as promoting the Healthy Generations Program, a multi-generational initiative that targets specific disease states and medical conditions. These include: prenatal care in the first trimester, low birth weight babies, cardiac morbidity rates, long term activities that decrease obesity and increase physical activity, diabetes prevalence in adult populations, adult pneumococcal and influenza vaccinations and smoking cessation. The Foundation also coordinates the company’s annual associate giving campaign and its parent foundation provides a 50 percent match of associates’ campaign pledges.

® ANTHEM is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. The Blue Cross names and symbol are registered marks of the Blue Cross Association. To learn more about the Anthem Blue Cross Foundation please visit www.wellpointfoundation.org.

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The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship (ASF)'s mission is to develop Leaders in Service: individuals who are dedicated and skilled in meeting the health needs of underserved communities, and whose example influences and inspires others.