Healthy Collaboration

First Lady Michelle Obama announced today that nearly five million kids around the county will have access to programs that are working to create healthier environments for their youth thanks to a new collaboration between the Partnership for a Healthier America, the National Recreation and Parks Association and Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

As part of this collaboration, our Healthy Out-of-School Time initiative will provide the process, tools and resources, these programs and sites can use to meet the goals in their commitment. We have seen great promise in the work we have started with Boys & Girls Clubs of America and are excited to begin the same work with the National Recreation and Parks Association.

Healthy Guidelines

Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the National Recreation and Park Association will follow national healthy eating and physical activity standards. Over the next five years, Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the National Recreation and Parks Association will encourage their collective 5,400 sites nationwide to adopt these standards of nutrition and physical activity.

Our Healthy Out-of-School Time Initiative is built around these healthy eating and physical activity standards and our Six Step Process, knowledge-based resources, and action-based tools are designed to help sites implement them. These standards give sites and programs around the country clear goals to support the healthy eating and physical activity needs of their young people. And we are ready to help them meet those goals.

“Creating healthier environments that surround children — in their homes, schools, and communities — is critical to reducing the staggering prevalence of childhood obesity across our country. Out-of-school time providers play an important role in shaping the health of the next generation. We are proud to be working with the National Recreation and Park Association and look forward to providing their staff the process, tools and resources needed to increase access to healthier foods and physical activity and empower the young people they serve to develop lifelong, healthy habits.”

-Dr. Howell Wechsler, CEO of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation

The Alliance is proud to support the Partnership for a Healthier America and their amazing collaboration with these two great organizations.