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Partnership for a Healthier America and 21 Colleges and Universities Set Groundbreaking Precedent In an Effort to Curb Obesity in Young Adults

Join Tele-Press Conference 877-888-4291 on March 26 at 2 p.m. ET to Learn About National Trends and Hear from Experts


WASHINGTON, DC (March 26, 2018) — Every Fall, hundreds of thousands of recently graduated high school seniors descend upon America’s college and university campuses as newly minted freshmen endowed with unprecedented personal freedom. According to recent studies, too many college students may develop poor habits that set them on a lifetime of potential poor health, which has implications on our nation’s military readiness and healthcare costs of increasing chronic disease.

Today the Partnership for a Healthier America announced the results of more than 21 colleges and universities that have implemented rigorous guidelines to become healthier campuses and stand out among their peers – resulting in more than 1 million, students, faculty and staff eating better and moving more. These guidelines ranged from healthy wellness meals to access to potable water, as well as more diverse opportunities for physical activity.

“Today, we celebrate the efforts of this pioneering cohort of colleges and universities as they push the social norm toward healthier living for young adults – a key target for prevention and turning the tide on the obesity epidemic,” said Dr. William H. Dietz, PHA board member and Chair of the Sumner M. Redstone Global Center for Prevention and Wellness at Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University. “Their work and achievements are impressive and important – we congratulate them on their leadership role in the movement to create a culture shift toward healthier living for generations to come.”

PHA’s 21 graduating campuses are:

As part of their multi-year commitment, Healthier Campus Initiative (HCI) partners enhance their campus environments to encourage and support greater physical activity and healthier eating habits. Each college or university partner commits to meeting 23 of 41 guidelines within three years. The guidelines were developed by PHA in collaboration with some of the nation’s leading nutrition, physical activity and campus wellness experts. As with all PHA partners, each of the commitment elements have been verified by an independent third party and are publicly reported in PHA’s annual progress reports.

For more details about the HCI data, members of the media are invited to join Dr. Dietz at 2 p.m. ET on Monday, March 26, 2018 for a tele-press conference by dialing 877-888-4291.

PHA and its campus partners use the hashtag #HealthyCampus to spread the word. To learn more about PHA’s participating colleges and universities, visit www.ahealthieramerica.org/campuses.



The Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) is devoted to working with the private sector to ensure the health of our nation’s youth by solving the childhood obesity crisis. In 2010, PHA was created in conjunction with – but independent from – First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! effort. PHA is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that is led by some of the nation’s most respected health and childhood obesity experts. PHA brings together public, private and nonprofit leaders to broker meaningful commitments and develop strategies to end childhood obesity. Most important, PHA ensures that commitments made are commitments kept by working with unbiased, third parties to monitor and publicly report on the progress our partners are making. For more information about PHA, please visit www.aHealthierAmerica.org and follow PHA on Twitter @PHAnews.


CONTACT Toni Carey, Partnership for a Healthier America 202.864.6057 tcarey@ahealthieramerica.org