New Data Shows Food and Beverage Company Health & Wellness Initiatives Reached More than 11 Million Americans in 2016

Scope and Impact Verified by City University of New York School of Public Health

WASHINGTON, April 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Healthy Weight Commitment
 Foundation (HWCF) today released new data showing the eleven food and beverage
companies participating in the Commitment to Healthy Communities (CHC) program
invested more than $30 million in community-based health and wellness initiatives that
 reached more than 11 million Americans in 2016.  The CHC data was reviewed and
 confirmed by the City University of New York School of Public Health (CUNY). 

"Food and beverage companies have a strong commitment to providing consumers
 with the products, tools and information they need to achieve a healthy diet and active
 lifestyle," said Becky Johnson, Executive Director of the Healthy Weight Commitment
Foundation.  "These year-one results are an impressive start, and will be used by CHC
and its member companies to expand the effectiveness of their investment in a healthier future."
"This data is very important because it provides a great baseline that will help us track
and improve the effectiveness of the private sector's community-based health and
wellness programs moving forward," said Terry T-K Huang, PhD, MPH, CPH and
 Professor, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy.  The year-one
results show not only progress and promise, but the need for continued work."
The 2016 data captures the scope and impact of health and wellness programs
 developed by CHC's participating companies. Report's Executive Summary shows:

• 11 food and beverage companies delivered 38 community-based health and wellness programs in 2016.
• Participating companies spent more than $30 million on community-based health and wellness programs in 2016.
• Those 38 programs reached 11.2 million Americans with tools and information to help them achieve a healthy diet and active lifestyle.
• 34,700 schools across America were reached with health & wellness tools and materials.
• Participating company employees conducted more than 50,000 volunteer hours.
• Participating companies donated 420 million total servings of food to local communities.
• The health and wellness programs facilitated 1.6 million hours of physical activity.

CHC is a novel approach designed to fully leverage the strengths of the public sector
(including academia) and the private sector in pursuit of a common goal — reducing the
 prevalence of childhood obesity within a generation. It was created by HWCF and CUNY
to evaluate corporate-community investment in healthful eating and active living programs
 and catalyzes multi-sector action toward collective impact on community health. 
The goal of CHC is to assess corporate programs and use scope and impact data to
 build a catalogue of best practices and concepts companies can use to move toward
implementation of impactful new and better programs.  An independent panel of experts
oversaw the development of CHC's framework for evaluating company strategies and
programs that promote healthy lifestyles in communities across the country. Some of the
world's largest and most recognized food companies are participating, including
General Mills, the Kellogg Company, PepsiCo, The Coca-Cola Company, Nestlé,
 The J.M. Smucker Company, Campbell Soup Company and others.
"CHC is harnessing the collective strengths of the public and private sectors to
 develop a roadmap for addressing obesity and helping children and adults
 achieve a healthy and active lifestyle," concluded Ms. Johnson.

Read the full version of the CHC final report here.

About the Healthy Weight Commitment FoundationThe Healthy Weight
 Commitment Foundation (HWCF) is a broad-based not-for-profit organization
whose mission is to help reduce obesity, especially childhood obesity, by
encouraging positive and permanent lifestyle changes among school-aged children
 and their families. The Foundation develops and implements innovative and
collaborative educational, marketplace and community solutions with its coalition
of 300 corporate and not-for-profit partners.  Through its free, award-winning
Together Counts™ healthy lifestyle school curriculum, the Foundation has reached
 more than 44 million students in the U.S. As the first commitment to former
First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move initiative and verified by the Robert
 Wood Johnson Foundation, the HWCF's food and beverage company members
 gave consumers more lower calorie options by removing 6.4 trillion calories
 from their products– surpassing their pledge by more than 400% three years
ahead of schedule. In 2016, they expanded their programming to Colombia,
Mexico and Brazil.

Contact: Sean McBride
202.309.3050
smcbride@dsmstrategic.com