Finally: A Solution for Unhealthy Children & Adult Chronic Disease
Healthy Future US is a national initiative making ground-breaking progress state-by-state in increasing physical activity, healthy nutrition & mental health for all our children K-12: Enough to improve kids’ health now and long into their future.
Our Children Are At-Risk
Teen mental health kept worsening over the last decade, then sank further during the pandemic. But we failed to invest in students’ mental wellness. Now 4 in 10 teens experience deep sadness during a significant part of their lives—a dramatic increase from just 10 years ago. And 1 in 5 teens say they have seriously considered taking their own life.
Diabetes used to be very rare just a few decades ago. It only happened to about 1 out of 30 people—typically in old age. But we continually ignored increasing child inactivity and unhealthy nutrition. Now 1 in 3 teens have prediabetes—across incomes and ethnicities—at very high risk of developing diabetes as young adults.
Meanwhile, inactivity and unhealthy nutrition will soon exceed smoking as the biggest preventable cause of cancer. No wonder the Mayo Clinic declared: “Sitting is the new smoking.”
Thanks to radical cuts in recess, PE & health education at school, plus more screen time and social media at home, and inadequate mental health education & support K-12—a majority of children are not active and far too many are not socially or emotionally well. They are at-risk of serious lifelong health problems—including heart disease, debilitating back problems, & chronic mental illness—as well as diabetes & cancer.
But We Are Finally Making Progress
Healthy Future US is making ground-breaking progress in increasing physical activity, healthy nutrition, and improving mental health for all children K-12. Enough to reduce child obesity & teen prediabetes and to improve mental health now—and to dramatically reduce cancer, high blood pressure & heart disease—improve mental health—and slash diabetes by 2/3—in adulthood.
We did our homework, put together a plan, and began building a coalition. Then we began systemically changing state physical & health education and recess policies & laws—including increasing accountability for student health. Now we are scaling up our work system-atically—as we add major sustainable funding based on rapid payback & high ROI.
Arizona Now, Other States Soon
Now, together with our partners, we are shaking up the status quo & scaling up—first in Arizona, then in other states. Our breakthrough approaches have been recognized by the CDC, national media, and US health & education experts. Our self-funding strategy is as ground-breaking as our plan, policy & program strategies. But we need your help to accelerate our impact…
Your Support Saves Costs & Lives
This is the kind of opportunity that comes along so rarely in life—for you to help truly change the trajectory of entire states & a whole nation. You help us empower individuals for lifelong health by sustainably improving schools & society. You help us get people physically & mentally healthier, and reduce ever-increasing health costs. And you help us reduce health-related racial & income inequalities.
In addition to philanthropic donor-investors supporting Health Future US’s work, health sector, government, & employer funders invest in our work—sharing a portion of their health cost savings & productivity growth with our major initiative, Healthy Students Healthy State. This makes our work self-funding and sustainable—so it can persist into future decades.