Finalists Announced for the End Childhood Obesity Innovation Challenge

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Feb 12, 2013, 08:29 ET

Contestants from Virginia and Illinois will present ideas at the Building a Healthier Future Summit and vie for $10,000 prize to bring their idea to reality

WASHINGTON, Feb. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), which works with the private sector to end the childhood obesity crisis, today announced the three finalists for the End Childhood Obesity Innovation Challenge, supported by Sanofi. The event takes place during PHA's 2013 Building a Healthier Future Summit, held March 6 to 8, 2013 in Washington, D.C.

The three finalists, determined by the public through an online vote, are:

Aurri Health Network: An online and community based network that incentivizes young people to live healthier by making primary prevention both fun and rewarding. Submitted by Jason Dreyzehner, Abingdon, Va.
Define Bottle: A product that offers a sustainable, tasty alternative to sugary drinks. Submitted by Carter Kostler, Virginia Beach, Va.
JiveHealth: A video game that teaches kids about healthy eating, empowering and encouraging them to adopt healthy behaviors. Submitted by Dennis Ai, Evanston, Ill.

"From the well-thought out ideas submitted by budding entrepreneurs to the more than 20,000 votes cast by the public, the End Childhood Obesity Innovation Challenge has shown that everyone can have a role to play in battling childhood obesity," said Lawrence A. Soler, President and CEO of PHA. "Everyday citizens from a wide variety of backgrounds are clearly as passionate about helping end childhood obesity as the experts are, and PHA is privileged to work with both."

The End Childhood Obesity Innovation Challenge is supported by the US affiliate of Sanofi, a global healthcare leader, focused on the growing needs of people and populations to improve healthcare outcomes.

"We know that the prevalence of childhood and adolescent obesity has tripled since 1980," said Angela Moskow, vice president of the Center for Chronic Disease Prevention & Wellness at Sanofi US. "As a healthcare company, we are committed to keeping people healthy and innovation is a key factor in developing new solutions to help reduce the trends of obesity."

In March, the three finalists will fly to Washington, D.C., where they will present their idea to a panel of judges and the more than 1,000 business, policy and health leaders who attend the Summit. The winner will receive $10,000 to turn their idea into a reality, plus expert advice from senior executives at StartUp Health, Edelman and McKinsey & Company. The winner will also get a chance to pitch their idea for potential coverage on the pages of Fortune magazine.

The inaugural Building a Healthier Future Summit, a sold-out event held in November 2011, brought together leaders from industry, non-profit, government, philanthropic and academic organizations. In addition to the brand new Innovation Challenge, PHA is expanding the 2013 Summit to include more attendees; breakouts focused on solving the problem – not just talking about it; an expo hall; a new twist on last year's Great American Family Dinner Challenge; and much more. For more information, visit www.ahealthieramerica.org/summit.

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.

Sanofi, a global and diversified healthcare leader, discovers, develops and distributes therapeutic solutions focused on patients' needs. Sanofi has core strengths in the field of healthcare with seven growth platforms: diabetes solutions, human vaccines, innovative drugs, rare diseases, consumer healthcare, emerging markets and animal health. For more information on Sanofi, please visit www.sanofi.us.

SOURCE Partnership for a Healthier America