Medifast Launches Free Nationwide K-5 Curriculum Promoting Healthy Habits

BALTIMORE, Sept. 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Medifast (NYSE: MED), the global company behind one of the fastest-growing health and wellness communities, OPTAVIA^®, announced today the launch of its "Healthy Habits For All" curriculum through a partnership with WeAreTeachers, a popular resource hub for educators. Modeled after the company's proprietary Habits of Health^® system, the lessons are designed to equip students with the skills, knowledge and confidence needed to build healthy habits from a young age. Lesson plans are available free of cost to millions of teachers nationwide, though the initiative aims to prioritize access for students in Title I schools.

Curriculum packs for grades K-5 can be downloaded from the WeAreTeachers website. Each lesson is related to a pillar of health and wellbeing: healthy eating and hydration, healthy motion, healthy mind, healthy sleep and energy management, and healthy surroundings.

"This curriculum provides health education resources on a national scale, with a focus on under-resourced communities. The lesson plans are designed to be simple and easy to teach in school – where children spend a majority of their time – and empower generations to embrace a healthy lifestyle," said Dan Chard, Chairman and CEO of Medifast. "We've seen how powerful habit creation can be in transforming the way our independent Coaches and Clients live, and we're excited to provide resources to help teachers encourage their students to adopt positive behaviors that can lead to lifelong healthy habits."

The curriculum was developed as part of Medifast's philanthropic initiative, Healthy Habits For All, which provides education and access to critical resources to under-resourced communities. According to the CDC, two in five children have a chronic health condition¹ and an estimated 19.7% of U.S. children and adolescents have obesity.² By integrating healthy habit lessons in school curriculums, children can be better prepared to make healthy choices — regardless of their socioeconomic background.

"By providing education and increased access to resources, we hope to build on our Coaches' impact and create a world where health and wellbeing are within reach for all," continued Chard.

Medifast projects the curriculum will impact over 20,000 students by providing these lessons to more than 700 school districts across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. At of the start of the 2022-23 school year, the curriculum already has more than 1,500 downloads.

The Healthy Habits For All curriculum follows the policies of the American Academy of Pediatrics and its belief that kids should focus on healthy behaviors, like eating healthy foods and exercising. Dieting is in no way a recommendation for children under the age of 18.

About Medifast:
Medifast (NYSE: MED) is the global company behind one of the fastest-growing health and wellness communities, OPTAVIA^®, which offers scientifically developed products, clinically proven plans and the support of independent OPTAVIA Coaches and a Community to help Customers achieve Lifelong Transformation, One Healthy Habit at a Time^®. As the publicly traded market leader by revenue in the U.S. $7 billion weight management industry, the company has impacted more than 2 million lives through its Community of OPTAVIA Coaches, who teach Customers how to develop holistic healthy habits through the proprietary Habits of Health^® Transformational System. Medifast was recognized in 2022 as one of America's Best Mid-Sized Companies by Forbes, in 2020 and 2021 as one of FORTUNE's 100 Fastest-Growing Companies and was named to Forbes' 100 Most Trustworthy Companies in America list in 2017. For more information, visit MedifastInc.com or OPTAVIA.com and follow @Medifast on Twitter.

¹ https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/factsheets/healthy-schools.htm
² Stierman, Bryan, Afful, Joseph, Carroll, Margaret D. (CDC National Health Statistics Reports) National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2017–March 2020 Prepandemic Data Files Development of Files and Prevalence Estimates for Selected Health Outcomes Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.15620/cdc:106273 

SOURCE Medifast