Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation launches national family-centered campaign to curb obesity

Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation launches national family-centered campaign to curb obesity

Together Counts™ program invites American families to take pledge to work together against obesity

WASHINGTON D.C. – The Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation – a 160-member organization committed to reducing obesity - especially childhood obesity – today launched a national campaign called the Together Counts™ program that encourages families to eat meals together and engage in physical activities together to help counter obesity and promote good health.

Families will be provided with tools to track their progress and compare them with the results in their communities and across America. The program will also offer rewards and incentives to provide positive reinforcement. The Together Counts website (www.togethercounts.com) will provide families with tips and advice that fuel participation, and a mobile app will give participants access to log and track their progress anywhere.

“Families that eat together and share regular physical activities are happier and healthier,” said Lisa Gable, executive director of Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation (HWCF). “A family meal or a family activity is a teachable moment – an opportunity to pass on healthy habits to children. When families eat and engage in physical activity together, parents get the opportunity to teach in the most effective way possible – by example, on a regular basis.”

The Together Counts campaign is aimed at encouraging energy balance between calories consumed and calories expended – a fundamental underpinning of efforts to reduce obesity. The Together Counts program advances the goal of energy balance by drawing on the strength of families.

"Lifelong healthy eating habits begin at home," said PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi, who chairs the HWCF. "When children see their parents eating a balanced diet and engaging with them in regular physical activity, they receive a life lesson, one that is reinforced daily within the family."

The Together Counts initiative’s focus on family shares an objective with the First Lady’s Let’s Move! Campaign, which has issued a challenge to families to be among the first to achieve a Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA) by committing to physical activity five days a week, for six weeks.
“Kids derive strength from their parents,” pointed out Ric Jurgens, Chairman and CEO of Hy-vee and HWCF Vice-Chair. “When they engage in physical activity together, or sharing meals together, kids draw the resolve and discipline they need to keep at it.”

The Together Counts campaign provides families with tools to track their progress. Through a family profile page, families will be able to log their results and gain points. They will be able to compare their results with overall results in their communities and across America, engage in positive competition and share their successes, tips, and ideas on facebook, directly from the website.

This program is one of several HWCF efforts aimed at reducing obesity by encouraging Americans to achieve energy balance.
Together Counts is on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/TogetherCounts and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/togethercounts.

The Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation brings together 160 retailers, food and beverage manufacturers, restaurants, sporting goods and insurance companies, two professional sports organizations, NGOs, trade associations, and the U.S. Army aimed at doing their part to help families reduce obesity, especially childhood obesity.
HWCF Members:
100 Black Men of America
6KidsNFit
A Chance to Heal Foundation
ActivityTree.com
Allrecipes.com
American Dietetic Association Foundation
American Wholesale Markets Association
America’s Backyard
ANNIKA Foundation
Ashley Shaffer, former Miss New Jersey
Asian Food Solutions
Association of Junior Leagues International
Baby Goes Pro
Be Active Florida
Better Bowls
Bio Vittoria Limited
BodyWorks
Brookshire Grocery Company
Bumble Bee Foods, LLC
Business Civic Leadership Center
California Fresh Fundraisers LLC
Campbell Soup Company
CATCH – Coordinated Approach to Child Health
Charles the Chef
Common Threads
ConAgra Foods
Core Wellness Life Coaching LLC
CrispTek
DailyBurn
DailyFeats
Darden Restaurants
Del Monte Foods
Discovery Education
Dish with Eileen
Doctors Direct Healthcare
Dream Dinners
Einstein Noah Restaurant Group
engageSimply
Exercise is Medicine
Exergame Fitness
eXtension
Festival Foods (Minnesota)
Fields of Dreams
FitCity, a division of Learning Well, Inc.
FoodCALC
Food City
Food Marketing Institute
George Foreman Cooking
General Mills, Inc.
GetSweaty
Girl Scouts of the USA
Global Dairy Platform
Gonzalez Northgate Market
Good Sports
Grocery Manufacturers Association
Harris Teeter, Inc.
Hartley Brand (H & H Products Co.)
Health-E-tips and JAM School Program
Healthcorps (Health + Healing Network)
Healthy Dining Finder
Healthy Kids Concepts
Healthy Lifestyle Choices
HOPSports
HOSA
Hy-Vee, Inc.
IFIC Foundation
IGA, Inc.
ILSI Research Foundation
Institute of Food Technologists
International Dairy Foods Association
iThriveForLife
Jax Markets
Kellogg Company
Kidney Wise & Wise Communities
KoreFit
Kraft Foods Inc.
Len Saunders
Mars, Incorporated
Martin’s Supermarkets
McCain Foods
McCormick & Company, Inc.
Melaina Shipwash, Miss Colorado
MEND
Milk Processor Education Program
National Association for Sport & Physical Education
National Business Group on Health (channel partner on Your Wellness Advantage portal)
National Confectioners Association
National Frozen and Refrigerated Foods Association
National Hypertension Association
National Wildlife Federation
Nestlé USA
NFL Play 60
‘nPLAY
Nutralife
One Economy Corporation
Our Park Place
Outdoor Foundation
PALA
Passport to Health
Paul Pierce’s The Truth on Health
PE4life
Peaceful Playgrounds
PepsiCo Foundation
PepsiCo, Inc.
Pink Lady America LLC
Playworld Systems
Price Chopper
Prince William Trails and Streams Coalition
Prodigy Diabetes Care, LLC
Produce for Better Health Foundation
PureCircle Limited
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
Ralston Foods/Post Foods, LLC (RalcorpHoldings, Inc.)
Redner’s Markets, Inc.
Road Runners Club of America
Sara Lee Corporation
Schnuck Markets, Inc.
Shannon Miller Lifestyle: Health & Fitness for Women
Shop Rite of Hunterdon Co., Inc.
Skogen’s Festival Foods
Snack Foods Association
SPARK
SparkPeople.com
Sports Authority
Sweat Equity Network
Tate & Lyle
The Balancing Act
The Coca-Cola Company
The Hershey Company
The J.M. Smucker Company
The Kitchen Cabinet
THE MMethod
The National Activity Plan
The National Recreation and Park Association
The National Theatre for Children
The NoOodle Company
The OASIS Institute
The OrganWise Guys Incorporated
The PGA of America (The Professional Golfers’ Association of America)
Tommy the Tomato
TOPS Club, Inc.
TriWest Healthcare Alliance
Unilever
United for DC
United Supermarkets, Ltd.
United Way Worldwide
U.S. Anti-Doping Agency
U.S. Army
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
U.S. Professional Tennis Association
USA Rugby
Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth
Virgin Health Miles
Vive en Forma
Wakefern Food Corporation
W. K. Kellogg Foundation
WalkStyles, Inc.
Weight Management 2010
Women Impacting Public Policy
Women’s Sports Foundation
YMCA of Greater Richmond
YoMagination
Youth Movement