Journal of Obesity & Weight Loss Therapy
Open Access

Abstract

When it comes to ensuring that all children and families have the chance to live healthier lives, we believe that everyone has a role to play. Healthier Generation drives strategic collaboration with the business sector at the national and local levels to shape supply, build demand, and improve access to healthier foods and beverages. In cooperation with corporations, industry associations, and national governing organizations, we leverage our expertise in cross-sector collaboration to drive bold change against entrenched barriers to public health such as availability, accessibility, and affordability of healthier options, with a focus on addressing health inequity. Healthier generation negotiates and implements voluntary evidence-based industry agreements that are in ambitious pursuit of supporting youth and families as well as shifting behavior towards choosing more balanced, healthier food and beverage options. To date, these collaborations have shown meaningful progress in children’s health, including reducing the consumption of calories from beverages, increasing provision, and marketing of fruits, vegetables, and healthier beverages and providing access to healthier products that meet the USDA’s Smart Snacks in School and the CACFP meal pattern guidelines. Healthier generation will discuss the value of cross sector collaboration and dive deeper into the impact of those relationships as they relate to children’s health.

Biography

Kathy Higgins has been named both an Eisenhower Fellow and Fulbright Senior Scholar, for which she was selected to study health care and philanthropy in New Zealand and Australia. She is the chief executive officer of the alliance for a Healthier generation and is considered a national expert on health care and philanthropy. In her previous role, she led the strategic investment of more than $150million into North Carolina communities to improve the health of vulnerable populations, as well as support physical activity and nutrition programs. She holds a bachelor’s degree in education from West Virginia Wesleyan College and completed her master’s work in community health education from Virginia Tech University.

E-mail: krista.washington@ healthiergeneration.org