SALT LAKE CITY — UnitedHealth is awarding grants to encourage young people to create programs to fight childhood obesity.
UnitedHealth HEROES is a health literacy initiative designed to address the increasing concern of obesity in young people.
UnitedHealth Group is offering grants between $500 and $1,000 to schools and youth-focused, community programs.
The funding will be awarded to programs that demonstrate a clear understanding of the health risks associated with childhood obesity, propose creative solutions to fighting obesity in their schools and communities and can be easily implemented, scaled and measured. Each grant also engages participating youth in service-learning and helps students develop their workplace readiness skills, according to a news release from UnitedHealth.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 23.1 percent of Utah children ages 10 to 17 are considered overweight or obese.
Visit www.YSA.org/HEROES for more information or to obtain an application. Applications must be submitted online before midnight Oct. 22, with grant recipients to be notified in December and January.