- UnitedHealthcare provides $40,000 grant to the Louisiana 4-H
Program to fund specially made smoothie bikes and support
youth-sponsored events designed to burn calories and promote healthy
eating
- Eat4-Health partnership supports local school gardens to teach
youth about growing healthy fruits and vegetables and promoting
healthy outdoor activities
Company Website:
http://www.uhc.com
LAFAYETTE, La. -- (Business Wire)
UnitedHealthcare and Louisiana 4-H are expanding a successful
partnership called Eat4-Health that helps tackle obesity by promoting
healthy eating and active lifestyles among youth and families.
Imari Hunter (L), a 5th grader at Alice Boucher Elementary, and Seth Mouton (R), an 8th grader with Holy Family Catholic School in Lafayette, join fellow students in preparing to make healthy smoothies with specially made blender bikes donated to Louisiana 4-H by UnitedHealthcare as part of a $40,000 grant announced today that will promote healthy living among youth. The smoothie bikes were unveiled at Charles Burke Elementary School where more than 100 youth were being taught about gardening and how fresh fruits and vegetables can be used to make healthy snacks. Also pictured holding the check: Janet Fox, Associate Department Head, Louisiana 4-H Youth Development; Joey Durel, Lafayette City-parish President; UnitedHealthcare mascot Dr. Health E. Hound; and Deborah Jones, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Louisiana (Photo: Kevin Herglotz).
UnitedHealthcare is providing LSU AgCenter, which administers 4-H
programs in Louisiana, a $40,000 grant to support youth healthy-living
programs, including the LSU AgCenter School Garden Initiative and 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, equipped with a blender mechanism
that makes smoothies when pedaled, were unveiled today at Charles Burke
Elementary in Lafayette where more than one hundred children from across
the region participated in the annual School Garden Initiative Training
Day hosted by the LSU AgCenter and Lafayette Parish Master Gardeners.
The day included training and activities to learn how to grow healthy
school gardens. UnitedHealthcare is one of several sponsors of the
garden initiative, providing $8,000 in garden grants for the program
this year. Students participating in the garden training met
UnitedHealthcare’s mascot Dr. Health E. Hound and use the pedal-powered
blender bikes to create their own smoothie, highlighting how food grown
in gardens can be used for healthy snacks.
The $40,000 grant from UnitedHealthcare will support the use of the
smoothie bikes at community events, help fund eight community garden
grants, and sponsor 4-H youth-led events and programs through spring
2015 in which children and their families can learn about easy ways to
promote healthy lifestyles. Recipe cards, educational information and
other resources will be distributed as part of the program with the goal
of encouraging young people and their families to eat more nutritious
foods and exercise regularly.
LSU AgCenter 4-H Youth Development has created a plan to provide
innovative, hands-on learning and target specific community needs in the
state. Many of these activities support healthy-living programs led by
4-H that encourage youth and community participation.
“Eat4-Health is a great partnership that is providing Louisiana 4-H
important resources to expand our programs to promote health among our
youth,” said Dr. Mark Tassin, 4-H Youth and Family Development
Department Head, LSU AgCenter. “There are so many exciting opportunities
to reach young people. Whether through school gardens or healthy
smoothie bikes, these initiatives provide fun, interactive ways to teach
and for kids to learn, and helps illustrate the connection between
growing healthy food and enjoying healthy snacks.”
UnitedHealthcare employees will help organize and host many of the
partnership events, working with 4-H to plan and implement activities
that lead to positive, sustainable change at the community and
individual levels. The company has provided LSU AgCenter with $100,000
to support the Eat4-Health program since 2011.
“UnitedHealthcare is grateful for the opportunity to expand our
Eat4-Health partnership in Louisiana, which is helping reach so many
young people through innovative healthy living programs and educational
events,” said April Golenor, president, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan
of Louisiana. “These pedal-powered smoothie bikes, along with the school
garden grants, are great ways to empower youth to make healthy,
nutritious food choices and encourage staying active.”
UnitedHealthcare is providing $520,000 to National 4-H Council to
support youth healthy-living programs. In addition to Louisiana, other
state 4-H programs receiving grants include Arizona, Florida, New York,
Mississippi, Nebraska, Tennessee, Texas 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.
Obesity continues to be at epidemic levels and is one of the
fastest-growing health challenges confronting the nation. Louisiana
ranks 50th in obesity with more than 1.2 million adults
(34.7% of the population) and 16.1% of youth estimated to be obese. 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 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 more than 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.
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Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20140918006351/en/
Contacts:
UnitedHealthcare
Molly McMillen, 612-353-7778
or
National
4-H Council
Jim Cooney, 908-723-4229
Source: UnitedHealthcare
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