New health and obesity report calls for private/public collaboration

A new report was released this week by the Bipartisan Policy Center, calling for the public and private sectors to collaborate in creating healthy families, schools, workplaces and communities.

The report, entitled, Lots to Lose: How America’s Health and Obesity Crisis Threatens our Economic Future, from the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Nutrition and Physical Activity Initiative, highlights existing best practices that can be implemented on a large scale to broaden their impact and help reduce obesity in the U.S.

The co-chairs recognize that given America’s limited federal resources, any effective plan to reduce obesity and health care costs will need to engage private sector partners and build on successful examples, targeting those actions with the most promise to bring about large-scale shifts over time.

"We applaud the efforts of the Bipartisan Policy Center to improve the health of Americans by focusing on physical activities and nutritional opportunities," said Andrew Webber, president and CEO, National Business Coalition on Health. "Businesses can benefit from the healthy workplace recommendations in their efforts to improve health in their workplace and in the communities where they draw their workforce. This information will be useful to the coalitions and employers that are collaborating in local communities to improve workplace wellness."