August 18, 2007: Over 100 people gathered at the Delta Center for “Tipping the Scales toward Healthier Children: The Utah Childhood Obesity Forum.” The forum was sponsored by the Utah Department of Health, Regence BlueCross-Blue Shield of Utah, the Delta Center and the Utah Jazz. Participants heard about the growing problem of obesity in Utah and then organized into discussion groups to determine strategies.
Following the forum the Utah Department of Health incorporated the findings from the forum and the Blueprint for Healthy Weight was created.
The initial meeting to begin implementation of the “Blueprint” was held on September 25, 2006 at the Governor’s mansion and hosted by Governor and Mrs. Hunstman. Over 50 community leaders and their organizations were invited to form a private-public partnership.
On February 1, 2007, a follow-up meeting was held at the Utah Department of Health. It was at this meeting the community partners agreed to name this initiative – both themselves as a coalition and the to-be-incorporated nonprofit organization – the Utah Partnership for Healthy Weight.
Today, the entire partnership meets quarterly to review current projects and determine future activities. Individual workgroups meet on their own to develop new and oversee ongoing activities. Some of those include developing financial resources, creating messages, research and program implementation.