Healthy Kids Challenge

CIGNA Helps Combat Childhood Obesity

As childhood obesity reaches epidemic proportions, Healthy Kids Challenge, a national nonprofit organization, focuses its attention on schoolchildren. Healthy Kids Challenge works with elementary schools (K-5) around the country to identify and implement strategies to help kids develop healthy eating and physical activity habits. What began as a one-week, one-school trial in 1998-99 has evolved to a highly successful 800+ school program in 40 states as well as Australia, Japan, British Columbia and Canada.

CIGNA works with Healthy Kids Challenge to broaden their reach to other people who influence a child's life – physicians, employers, businesses and members of the community. The CIGNA-sponsored program offers educational materials to pediatricians to help them begin a dialog with families about childhood obesity. By bringing families, employers, physicians and schools together and providing the educational support they need to help change behavior, we can change the health outlook for our children.

Visit the Healthy Kids Challenge website, or watch for their ad in Cooking Light magazine, to find out how you can get involved in your community. The CIGNA Foundation is providing grants for elementary schools in Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Cleveland and Richmond to participate in the Healthy Kids Challenge school program.

CIGNA offers it's Providers a downloadable and printable Healthy Kids brochure to offer patients and guide them to a healthy lifestyle.