May 17, 2004
BOSTON, MA, May 17, 2004 – The New Balance Foundation will support a groundbreaking summit in early June to address the nation's obesity epidemic and to propose solutions. The TIME/ABC News Summit on Obesity is set for June 2-4, 2004, in Williamsburg, Va. The Summit is presented by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the nation's largest philanthropic organization devoted exclusively to health and health care.
To elevate dialogue on the issue of obesity in America, TIME and ABC News are drawing together leaders across sectors and disciplines – medicine and science, government, education, business, academia, media and entertainment – to advance knowledge, focus attention and propose solutions. The Summit will feature experts from a wide range of fields including U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona; ABC News Anchor Peter Jennings; Chairman of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports Lynn Swann; Dr. Dean Ornish; and Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, among others. For information, visit www.time.com/obesity or call 1-877-860-7697.
"The New Balance Foundation has identified obesity, particularly childhood obesity, as one of our main areas of focus for the foreseeable future," says Anne Davis, executive vice president, New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. and founding trustee of the New Balance Foundation. "Of the 60 million Americans who are obese, almost one sixth -- nine million are our children. We are committed to participating in the fight against obesity and to affecting permanent societal change in the regions in which we have our facilities."
Almost one in every three American adults is obese, up from nearly one in four just 10 years ago. From 1960 to 2000, obesity rates among U.S. adults ages 20 to 74 have more than doubled, rising from 13.3% to 30.9%. Fifteen percent of children ages 6 to 19—a total of 9 million children—are overweight or obese, up from 5% in 1980. Studies suggest overweight teens have an 80% chance of becoming overweight adults.
In addition to the Summit, The New Balance Foundation also currently supports a unique school-community-university partnership among Boston College, Boston Public Schools, the YMCA of Greater Boston and other community partners. The BostonConnects initiative coordinates resources to serve Boston-area students and their families. In particular, it supports a health education curriculum that targets the growing threats of childhood obesity and juvenile diabetes.
The New Balance Foundation is a charitable foundation established and funded by New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. The Foundation supports programs that emphasize local outreach efforts, the involvement of the community, and children's initiatives that benefit the communities in which their employees live and work. For more information about the New Balance Foundation, log-on to the company's web site at www.newbalance.com. Click on "About Us" and "Community Involvement."
