Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation
Annual Report Fiscal Year 2012–2013
5
Healthy Active Communities
I saw how awesome it was,
learning things that
many13-year-olds
just don’t know.
“It’s also great at tapping into students
that might not otherwise get this kind of
information or physical activity. We have
a lot of good athletic programs in our
school, but not everybody’s a baseball or
football star. And no matter who you are,
it’s still important to be physically fit.”
In 2012–2013, MATCH reached 12 schools
and 1,065 students. The result: 60% of
participants—and 68% of overweight
students—reduced their BMI z-scores.
What’s more, data show that nearly half
of MATCH participants remain at a healthy
weight four years after participating.
1
The Foundation’s support for MATCH was
part of a three-year grant to reduce obesity
in rural eastern North Carolina schools.
Healthy, local food and safe,
inviting places to play and be active.
For everyone.
That’s our vision. To make it a reality, we
work across North Carolina communities,
child care centers, schools and places
of worship. It’s a tall order, but a
necessary one to address the problems
of obesity, sedentary lifestyle and diet-
related disease that weigh down our
state. Our efforts go well beyond raising
awareness as we invest in the innovative
organizations that shape our communities.
From local food systems to the NC
Department of Transportation’s statewide
bicycle and pedestrian plan, we know that
people are active and eat well when our
communities make it easier to be healthy.
For our state’s youngest, the Foundation
has been grounded in early childhood
obesity prevention since its inception.
Years of successful investments in projects
such as the Foundation’s signature
program Be Active Kids,®
2
the Natural
Learning Initiative’s Preventing Obesity
by Design and the UNC Center for Health
Promotion and Disease Prevention’s
Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-
Assessment for Child Care (NAP SACC)
led to a major early childhood healthy
weight initiative in 2010. That’s when
the Foundation joined with The North
Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc.
(NCPC), on a three-year, $3 million
initiative, Shape NC. Shape NC works to
create healthier environments in the child
Carson Peele
MATCH participant
To learn more
about MATCH, visit
MatchWellness.org
.
NC CHILDREN
AGES 10–17 IS
OVERWEIGHT
OR
OBESE
ONE
THREE
IN
NEARLY
3
