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UPMC Health Plan Awards $50,000 Grant to Combat Childhood Obesity

Diane Holder, president, and Dr. Michael Culyba, vice president of Medical Affairs, both of UPMC Health Plan, present a $50,000 grant to representatives from the Armstrong School District to help combat childhood obesity.

For two years, Armstrong School District has been working with ACMH hospital (Armstrong Center for Medicine and Health) and Children’s Community Pediatrics-Armstrong to create a countywide approach to escalating childhood weight issues and their related health risks. The group plans to use the $50,000 to offer after-school and weekend health activities to more than 3,200 Armstrong School District students in kindergarten through sixth grade – as well as their families. The partnership is known as HEAL Armstrong (Healthy Eating & Active Lifestyles).

"The rise of childhood obesity is a significant concern for all of us who are focused on improving the health of our community,” says UPMC Health Plan President Diane Holder. “We believe Armstrong County's community-based program is an innovative public health approach to not only successfully address the root causes of this problem but to establish a sense of community ownership and pride in the health of its children."

Activities are expected to be offered weekly beginning in January 2007. Events would consist of physical activities, snack-making advice from a nutritionist, and additional teaching about wellness. Part of the grant would pay for a wellness coordinator to launch these activities at various schools.

“Working with children early in life to develop healthy eating and exercise habits is vital to developing healthy lifestyles as adults,” says Holder. “We are eager to work with Armstrong School District, ACMH hospital, and Children’s Community Pediatrics-Armstrong to help these kids take an important first step toward a lifetime of good health within the supportive environment of their schools.”

The three partner agencies got their first look at school-by-school health data for the district’s 13 schools in February, which showed that a majority of kindergarten students in Armstrong School District begin their school years in a normal weight range, but with each succeeding grade level, an increasing percentage of students are either overweight or at risk of being overweight. By sixth grade, nearly half of students are overweight or at risk of being overweight in some Armstrong School District schools.

In all, about 35 percent of all Armstrong School District students – about 2,170 students – were either overweight or at risk of being overweight, according to the first body mass index survey of the students conducted last year. These results show that more work needs to be done to combat childhood weight problems that can lead to serious health risks.

A major part of the grant-funded effort will revolve around the National Institutes for Health’s “We Can!” program, an easy-to-use wellness program for parents and teachers. More information can be found by visiting http://wecan.nhlbi.nih.gov. The group hopes to purchase a 32-page “We Can!” parent handbook with useful graphics and easy-to-read information.

About UPMC Health Plan

UPMC Health Plan, the second-largest health insurer in Western Pennsylvania, is owned by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), one of the nation's top-ranked health systems. As part of an integrated health care delivery system, UPMC Health Plan partners with UPMC and community network providers to improve clinical outcomes as well as the health of the greater community. According to the U.S. News & World Report/NCQA’s listing of “America’s Best Health Plans,” UPMC Health Plan is the top-ranked health plan in Pennsylvania and one of the top health plans in the United States. The Health Plan is also the highest-ranked managed care company in the nation for breast cancer screening. The integrated partner companies of the UPMC Insurance Services Division – which includes UPMC Health Plan, Work Partners, EAP Solutions, UPMC for You (Medical Assistance), and Community Care Behavioral Health – offer a full range of group health insurance, Medicare, Children's Health Insurance Program, Medical Assistance, behavioral health, employee assistance, and workers' compensation products and services to over 900,000 members. Our local provider network includes UPMC as well as community providers, totaling more than 80 hospitals and more than 7,000 physicians in a 28-county region.

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