Statement of James R. Gavin III, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman of the Partnership for a Healthier America, on Wal-Mart's Commitment to Increase Healthy, Affordable Food Options Nationwide

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Jan 20, 2011, 10:30 ET

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a statement from James R. Gavin III, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman of the Partnership for a Healthier America, on Wal-Mart's commitment to increase healthy, affordable food options nationwide:

"The Partnership for a Healthier America commends Wal-Mart for taking an important step forward in addressing the obesity epidemic that seriously affects our children.

"In order to successfully make our children and families healthier, we need the private, public and non-profit sectors to come together in meaningful and measureable ways. This initiative is a positive example of what companies can do to help American families tackle the serious problem of childhood obesity.

"Today's announcement is important because Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, will now be providing millions of American families with convenient access to a wide range of healthy, affordable food. Limited access to healthy food plays a key role in the obesity crisis. By increasing the affordability and accessibility of healthier options, Wal-Mart will be helping families make significant changes in their daily lives.

"Over the coming months, the Partnership for a Healthier America will be working closely with Wal-Mart to devise strategies to evaluate the success of their commitment."

The Partnership for a Healthier America is an independent and nonpartisan organization that will mobilize broad-based support for efforts to solve the childhood obesity challenge. Core activities of the partnership will include:

Developing a strong membership network of leaders across sectors with commitments to scaling meaningful and measureable solutions
Convening members annually to affirm, align, and announce commitments
Promoting broad understanding among all sectors about the role of healthy food, physical activity, and the environment plays in reversing the childhood obesity epidemic
Facilitating and measuring the impact of member commitments against clear and transparent targets
Connecting potential partners in the private and nonprofit sectors to each other and to the correct points of contact in government to ensure efficient leveraging of actions, and sharing of knowledge and lessons learned at the community, state, and national levels

The Partnership emerged out of a series of conversations between The California Endowment, Kaiser Permanente, Nemours, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, which is a partnership with the American Heart Association and the Clinton Foundation. SNR Denton LLP has provided valuable pro-bono operational and legal support in establishing The Partnership. The Brookings Institution has also contributed thought leadership to the effort.

For more information about The Partnership for a Healthier America, please visit www.ahealthieramerica.org.

SOURCE Partnership for a Healthier America