YMCA of the USA Announces 16 Communities Selected for Statewide Policy Change Initiative to Reverse the Childhood Obesit...( Communities in three sta...),Health

Communities in three states will serve as initial sites for initiative to promote healthier options in communities

CHICAGO, Aug. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Sixteen communities in Connecticut, Kentucky and Tennessee have been selected to build statewide networks to help reduce childhood obesity rates, the YMCA of the USA (Y-USA) announced today. These communities will be part of Y-USA's Activate America(R): Pioneering Healthier Communities (PHC) initiative. Y-USA, the national resource office for the nation's 2,686 YMCAs, will draw on its successful, community-level PHC model, applying its experiences and existing networks of YMCA State Alliances to support policy, environmental and systems changes in the three states.

The communities selected are:

• In Connecticut: YMCA of Darien Community, YMCA of Metropolitan Hartford, Southington-Cheshire Community YMCA, Wallingford Family YMCA, Greater Waterbury YMCA, and Wilton Family YMCA.
• In Kentucky: YMCA of Burlington/YMCA of Greater Cincinnati, Frankfort YMCA, Hopkins County Family YMCA, YMCA of Owensboro/Daviess County, Paris-Bourbon County YMCA, and Pikeville Area Family YMCA.
• In Tennessee: YMCA of Bristol, YMCA of Metropolitan Chattanooga, YMCA of Dyer County, and Greater Kingsport Family YMCA.
  

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has committed $6.8 million over five years to support the expansion of Y-USA's PHC initiative. The 16 communities in Connecticut, Kentucky and Tennessee are the first group funded by RWJF, with communities in three more states to be selected in 2010. Each team will receive funding over a two year period to cover training and seed the implement
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