Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation awards $100,000 to Let's Go!

The Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation has awarded a third $100,000 grant to Portland-based Let's Go! for the 5-2-1-0 Goes to School Program, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care reported. The foundation's grant provides direct support to individual schools in 12 communities, enabling them to promote healthy eating and activity by introducing more nutritious snack foods, and purchasing playground and other equipment that encourages fun activity for students.

The 5-2-1-0 Goes to School program reaches approximately 17,000 students in 48 schools in Greater Portland with a simple message about behavior and eating:
5 servings of fruit and /or vegetables each day
2 hours or less of TV, computer and other screen time
1 hour — minimum — of activity
0 sugary drinks

"Current research tells us that one in three children are overweight or obese causing short and long-term health issues, poor self-image, and a huge cost to society in health care expenses," said Karen Voci, executive director of the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation. "To really tackle this crisis, we must reach kids at home and at school, and include their families, teachers and peers." According to a recent U.S. Surgeon General's report, the national total costs of obesity have reached about $139 billion
annually.

To date, Harvard Pilgrim has provided $300,000 to the Let's Go! program as part of its Growing Up Healthy, with a pledge to commit a total of $500,000 in Maine over five years.

Participating schools have developed novel activities and programs with the Harvard Pilgrim funds that encourage children to try new healthy foods, shun sugary drinks and get moving.

• Nathan Clifford Elementary School in Portland is hosting a "Mystery fruit" contest where students are educated about fruits and guess which is the fruit of the week based on clues. Mangoes? Red bananas? Papaya?

• Mast Landing School students in Freeport have booted up to "walk the Appalachian Trail" by learning how to translate sledding, skating and other activities into miles walked, hoping to click off 2,178 miles of trail while gaining an hour of exercise each day.

• Staff members at Cape Elizabeth Middle School are setting an example by teaching themselves better eating habits. They hosted a "Heart Healthy Cooking Class" to coincide with Valentine's Day as part of a staff wellness initiative

Voci is enthusiastic about both progress over the past two years and the future of 5-2-1-0 Goes to School, "Even in challenging times we find that Maine people are creative and know how to take advantage of new resources to teach better habits in their communities. Maine people always find a way to take on something new and get it done."

The Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation was created in 1980 to support the company's mission of improving the health of society. After reviewing New England statistics on increased childhood obesity, the Harvard Pilgrim Foundation launched Growing Up Healthy in 2007 as a five-year information, leadership and funding initiative to support healthy weight for children in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.