HEALTHY Armstrong Wins PEP Grant; West Hills Primary Earns Active Schools Grant
FORD CITY, Pa., Nov. 23, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- HEALTHY Armstrong – an Armstrong County collaborative designed to prevent youth obesity – received a Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP) grant totaling nearly $1 million from the U.S. Department of Education.
In addition, Armstrong County's West Hills Primary School in Kittanning will receive $10,000 from UPMC Health Plan and $5,000 for the 2010-11 school year from the Pennsylvania Department of Health as part of the state's Active Schools Grant program.
HEALTHY Armstrong (HEALTHY stands for Healthy Eating Active Lifestyles Together Helping Youth) is one of only three organizations in Pennsylvania to win a PEP grant in 2010.
The PEP grant will be paid out over three years — $404,557 in the first year, $349,036 in the second year, and $238,773 in the third year. Funding after the first year is contingent on making substantial progress toward program goals.
"This generous award will enable HEALTHY Armstrong to continue to meet its main goals: To improve the health of families and to help children maintain a healthy weight through improved nutrition and increased physical activity," said Dr. Harold Altman, a pediatrician and Chief Medical Officer at ACMH Hospital. "With the addition of the PEP funding, all Armstrong School District students will now have access to wellness resources, promoting a comprehensive approach from kindergarten thru the 12th grade." Dr. Altman is also a member of HEALTHY Armstrong's Executive Council.
HEALTHY Armstrong plans to use the grant for new equipment, curriculum changes, and professional development that will help create a fitness-based physical education model at the secondary school level in the Armstrong School District.
"UPMC Health Plan is excited that HEALTHY Armstrong is getting national recognition and support for its efforts in fighting childhood obesity," said Michael Culyba, MD, Vice President, Medical Affairs, UPMC Health Plan, and a member of HEALTHY Armstrong's Executive Council. "This program has shown that it is dedicated to improving the health of the community and that is why we have been so pleased to support it."
UPMC Health Plan is a major partner with the collaborative, assisting with marketing and communications and organizational leadership, as well as funding. Other major coalition partners include ACMH Hospital/Foundation, Armstrong School District (ASD), Children's Community Pediatrics-Armstrong, and Armstrong County.
The Carol M. White PEP program provides grants to community-based organizations to initiate, expand, or enhance physical education programs for students in grades K-12. Grant recipients must implement programs that help students make progress toward meeting state standards.
HEALTHY Armstrong uses the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) We Can!® (Ways to Enhance Children's Activity and Nutrition) curriculum materials. Armstrong County was the first We Can! County in the nation. We Can! is a national education program for families and communities that promotes healthy weight in children ages 8-13 through improved food choices, increased physical activity, and reduced screen time (TV, computers, and video games). We Can! was developed by the NIH, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The Active Schools Grant program implements evidence-based physical activity programs that meet the federal guidelines of moderate to vigorous daily physical activity. Research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that physically active children perform better in school and have higher attendance rates.
West Hills Primary will use this grant to purchase equipment and train staff in the SPARK program, a research-based curriculum that helps teachers learn evidence-based physical education and coordination of school health activities to help promote lifelong wellness in their students. This program, which is one of the We Can! youth curricula, aims to increase students' physical activity by an additional 30 minutes a day.
UPMC Health Plan is a corporate partner of We Can!, and supports the program through the We Can! Pittsburgh initiative. UPMC Health Plan is in its second consecutive year as a participant in the Active Schools Grant program in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
About UPMC Health Plan
UPMC Health Plan, the second-largest health insurer in western Pennsylvania, is owned by UPMC, one of the nation's top-ranked health systems. The integrated partner companies of the UPMC Insurance Services Division – which includes UPMC Health Plan, UPMC WorkPartners, LifeSolutions (EAP), UPMC for You (Medical Assistance), and Community Care Behavioral Health – offer a full range of group health insurance, Medicare, Special Needs Plan, CHIP, Medical Assistance, behavioral health, employee assistance, and workers' compensation products and services to nearly 1.4 million members. Our local provider network includes UPMC as well as community providers, totaling more than 100 hospitals and more than 11,500 physicians in a 47-county region. For more information, visit www.upmchealthplan.com.
About HEALTHY Armstrong
An Armstrong County collaborative created in 2005, HEALTHY Armstrong's goal is to improve the health of families and to help children maintain a healthy weight through improved nutrition and increased physical activity. HEALTHY stands for Healthy Eating and Active Lifestyles Together Helping Youth. Other key partner organizations for this important collaborative include Armstrong School District, ACMH Hospital, ACMH Foundation, Children's Community Pediatrics–Armstrong, and Armstrong County. HEALTHY Armstrong utilizes the National Institutes of Health We Can! (Ways to Enhance Children's Activity and Nutrition) curriculum, focusing on increasing physical activity, improving food choices, and reducing screen time (TV, video games, etc.). For more information, visit www.healthyarmstrong.org.
We Can! Ways to Enhance Children's Activity & Nutrition, We Can! and the We Can! logos are registered trademarks of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS).
SOURCE UPMC Health Plan
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