“As both educators and community members, we care about the futures of our students, so working with the IBC Foundation and its partners to ensure those futures are brighter, happier, and healthier is a great honor.”
Dr. Naomi Johnson Booker
CEO at Global Leadership Academy Charter School
Through the Healthy Futures initiative, the Independence Blue Cross Foundation (IBC Foundation) has found a new, collaborative approach to reversing the childhood obesity epidemic in our communities. With our local partners, we’ve launched an innovative, school-based childhood wellness program to improve fitness, nutrition, and preventive health.
Childhood obesity is a national health challenge. And in Philadelphia, 50 percent of children aged 6 to 12 are obese or overweight.¹ As overweight children grow to adulthood, they face higher risks of disease, including diabetes, stroke, cancer, heart disease, and even premature death.
Our Healthy Futures initiative is a $3 million, three-year, school-based program with a comprehensive approach to combating childhood obesity. Through this program, we work with key partners to teach children to Eat Right, Get Fit, and Stay Well, and lay the groundwork for a lifetime of healthy habits in future generations.
Launched in 2013, the Healthy Futures initiative is now in over 20 schools throughout southeastern Philadelphia. Participating schools were chosen based on a number of geographic, demographic, and physical factors as well as interest in hosting the program.
We are inspired by the overwhelmingly positive response to the program. See what others are saying about our Healthy Futures program.
Eat Right is designed to improve children’s eating habits by raising awareness of good nutrition among parents, children, and community stakeholders. We’ve partnered with three innovative organizations who share our goal of fighting childhood obesity.
Learn more about our Eat Right partners:
Get Fit teaches children the importance of physical activity and inspires them to make fitness a part of their daily lives — at school and at home. Get Fit activities include additional school fitness programs, community events, and visits from Philadelphia Union coaches and players.
Get to know our Get Fit partners:
Stay Well aims to increase school preventive health screening rates and reduce absences due to chronic illnesses, such as asthma and diabetes. Together with our partners, we ensure students receive all the required health screenings and physicals, and provide additional wellness education based on the specific needs of the school community.
Meet our Stay Well partners:
The Department of Nutrition Sciences at Drexel University College of Nursing and Health Professions is conducting a comprehensive study evaluating the results of the Healthy Futures program. They will present their initial findings at a national conference hosted by the IBC Foundation and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in the fall of 2014.
By focusing on nutrition, fitness and preventive health, the IBC Foundation and its partners will help create a healthier future for generations to come.
¹ SEPA – Community Health Data Base — 2010 Household Health Survey.