Growing Up LEAN

Living to be Energetic, Active, & Nutritious Grant Program

The childhood obesity epidemic threatens to reverse the gains in life expectancy achieved over the last two centuries. More than one-third of young people in the United States are overweight or obese.

Childhood obesity is complex, involving genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors. Working together, we can begin to change childhood overweight in our communities. Individuals, families, communities, schools, youth service organizations, public health, media, and government can take action to prevent and decrease childhood overweight and obesity.

Energy balance means energy intake is equivalent to energy expenditure, resulting in no net weight gain or weight loss. Energy balance in children indicates equality between energy intake and energy expenditure, which supports normal growth without promoting excess weight gain. The Foundation views a balanced diet and physical activity as key drivers to achieve healthy weight in children. Following are suggestions on how our philanthropy support could be successfully deployed.

The Wellmark Foundation seeks viable childhood obesity prevention efforts that can be incorporated into home, child care, school, and community settings to include healthy eating and appropriate physical activity. Funding consideration will be given to evidence-based proposal ideas seeking to implement strategies like the examples offered below.

Improving Nutritional Quality

• Engaging youth in developing approaches for improving nutritional quality in their school.
• Motivating youth to make better food choices at school by improving access to healthful foods that are tasty and appealing in school meals and in all other venues.
• Utilizing social marketing strategies to encourage youth to consume healthier food choices, such as eating recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables.
• Engaging parents, families, communities, students, and schools in activities and events focusing on wellness and improved dietary patterns at home and school.
• Supporting the delivery of age-appropriate and culturally sensitive nutrition education that helps youth develop the knowledge, attitudes, skills, and behaviors to adopt, maintain and enjoy healthy eating habits for life.

Advancing Physical Activity

• Resourcing efforts to instill regular physical activity into the culture, attitudes, and behaviors of students, families, and local communities.
• Providing resources for strategies to offer regular, quality physical education classes for all K-12 students.
• Engaging youth in motivating their peers to become, and stay, physically active.
• Utilizing before school times to help kids get a healthy start to their day with physical activity, such as walk-to-school initiatives and other age-and site-appropriate activities.
• Increasing opportunities for children and youth to be physically active during the school day that integrate with students’ academic studies and acquiring health literate, 21st century learning skills.
• Enhancing options to be active after school by providing activities, programming, and resources to help kids choose to be physically active during this time of day.
• Promoting active living by supporting efforts to better understand how environments and policies affect children’s physical activity in community and school settings.