- $40,000 grant to Prairie View A&M University’s 4-HYouth Development Program expands “Eat4-Health” partnership that
trains Texas 4-Hers as health ambassadors to reach youth through
positive messages about nutrition and exercise
- Partnership will fund specially made smoothie bikes and support
youth-sponsored events designed to promote healthy eating and active
living
HOUSTON -- (Business Wire)
UnitedHealthcare and the 4-H Youth Development Program at Prairie View
A&M University are expanding a successful partnership called Eat4-Health
that helps tackle obesity by promoting healthy eating and an active
lifestyle among youth and families.
Jenson Hooper (13) from West Briar Middle School in Houston is cheered on by UnitedHealthcare mascot Dr. Health E. Hound and teammates (l-r) Johnny Garcia and Cameron Dorsey along with Prairie View A&M Extension Program Health Coordinator Dawn Purton, as he uses a smoothie bike to create his own healthy snack in return for a little "sweat equity." The smoothie bike is part of $40,000 grant announced today from UnitedHealthcare to Prairie View A&M Extension Program that will promote healthy living among youth. The grant announcement was made during the Ralph Cooper "Stars of the Future Basketball Tournament" at Chavez High School in Houston. (Photo: Stephen Gutierrez)
UnitedHealthcare is providing Prairie View A&M University’s Cooperative
Extension Program, which administers 4-H programs in Texas, a $40,000
grant to support youth healthy-living programs. A portion of the grant
is being used to purchase pedal-powered blender bikes that will be used
for fun, energetic events where young people can create their own
healthy smoothies through exercise. The specially made stationary bikes
are equipped with a blender mechanism that makes smoothies when pedaled.
The partnership expansion was announced at the annual Ralph Cooper’s
Stars of the Future Basketball Tournament that took place at Cesar
Chavez High School in Houston. During the tournament, 4-Hers, community
leaders and UnitedHealthcare’s mascot Dr. Health E. Hound encouraged
participants to create their own healthy snack in return for a little
“sweat equity.”
At the basketball tournament, 4-H youth trained through the
“Eat4-Health” program also distributed healthy smoothie recipes and
helped hundreds of participating youth and families make their own
healthy smoothies to burn calories and promote health.
Prior to the tournament, Prairie View A&M University’s 4-H Youth
Development Program conducted an “Eat4-Health” youth health ambassador
training session with captains and co-captains from each of the 14
participating basketball tournament teams. These newly trained youth
health ambassadors will now lead workshops for their teammates on
healthy living practices including tips for making healthy smoothies and
staying active.
The grant, along with the smoothie bikes, will be used to support
community events and programs in which youth and families can learn
about easy ways to promote healthy lifestyles. Recipe cards, nutrition
and physical activity information, and other resources will be
distributed as part of the program. The goal is to encourage young
people and their families to eat more nutritious foods and exercise
regularly.
Prairie View A&M University Cooperative Extension Program and 4-H are
working together to implement the grant, in collaboration with and in
support of U.S. Department of Agriculture nutrition education programs.
A plan has been developed to provide innovative, hands-on learning to
target underserved communities in the state, led by 4-H and Extension
educators, volunteers and teen leaders to encourage youth and community
participation.
“The 4-H Program at Prairie View A&M University is pleased to continue
working with UnitedHealthcare to create hands-on opportunities to
promote active, healthy lifestyles among Texas youth,” said Dr. Alton B.
Johnson, Dean and Director of Land Grant Programs in the College of
Agriculture and Human Science. “The new pedal-powered bikes give our 4-H
youth health ambassadors a fun new tool to help demonstrate easy ways to
stay active and eat healthy.”
UnitedHealthcare employees will help organize and host many of the
Eat4-Health events and assist in the implementation of projects that
lead to positive, sustainable change at the community and individual
level. The company has already provided Prairie View A&M University
Cooperative Extension Program $100,000 to support the Eat4-Health
program since 2011.
“UnitedHealthcare is grateful for the opportunity to expand the
Eat4-Health partnership in Texas, which is helping reach so many young
people through innovative healthy living programs and educational
events,” said Don Langer, President, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of
Texas. “These pedal-powered smoothie bikes are great ways to empower
young people to make healthy, nutritious food choices and stay active.”
UnitedHealthcare is providing $520,000 to National 4-H Council to
support youth healthy-living programs. In addition to Texas, other state
4-H programs receiving grants include Arizona, Florida, Louisiana,
Mississippi, New York, Nebraska, Tennessee and Wisconsin. Eat4-Health,
which began in 2011, has already reached more than 210,000 young people
and families across nine states through a positive campaign that has
trained thousands of 4-H teen youth health ambassadors to promote
healthy lifestyles in their communities.
According to America’s Health Rankings®, an annual comprehensive
assessment of the nation’s health on a state-by-state basis, obesity is
a leading risk factor for diabetes, heart disease and many cancers.
Texas ranks 32nd in obesity with nearly 30 percent of adults and more
than 15 percent of youth estimated to be obese. Obesity continues to be
at epidemic levels and is one of the fastest-growing health challenges
confronting the nation. The report can be viewed and downloaded at www.americashealthrankings.org.
About 4-H
4-H, the nation’s largest youth development and empowerment
organization, cultivates confident kids who tackle the issues that
matter most in their communities right now. In the United States, 4-H
programs empower six million young people through the 109 land-grant
universities and Cooperative Extension in more than 3,000 local offices
serving every county and parish in the country. Outside the United
States, independent, country-led 4-H organizations empower one million
young people in more than 50 countries. National 4-H Council is the
private sector, non-profit partner of the Cooperative Extension System
and 4-H National Headquarters located at the National Institute of Food
and Agriculture (NIFA) within the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA). Learn more about 4-H at www.4-H.org.
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, military service members,
retirees and their families,and Medicare and Medicaid
beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 800,000 physicians
and care professionals, and 6,000 hospitals and other care facilities
nationwide. Globally, UnitedHealthcare serves 45 million people in
health benefits and is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group
(NYSE:UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company. For
more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com
or follow @myUHC on Twitter.
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Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20141123005019/en/
Contacts:
UnitedHealthcare
Molly McMillen, 952-931-6029
or
Prairie
View A&M University
Dawn Burton, 713-797-7032
Health
Coordinator
Cooperative Extension Program
Source: UnitedHealthcare
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