With the www.Louisiana2Step.com website live only 70 days, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana and the Pennington Biomedical Research Center today announced that more than 3,100 users have registered with the Louisiana 2 Step campaign and pledged to better their health by eating right and moving more.
Those two steps are the foundation of the Louisiana 2 Step, a statewide public health campaign encouraging Louisiana residents to take two small daily steps toward better health. The campaign urges Louisianians to visit the website to learn more about ways to make these small changes, and as of today, more than 13,700 unique visitors have done so. Much of the information on www.Louisiana2Step.com is available without registering, but registered members have access to a broader range of interactive tools for health management.
“We are excited but not surprised to see that so many people are already visiting the Louisiana 2 Step website and signing up to ‘do the 2,’” said John Maginnis, vice president, Corporate Communications, at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana. “The website is as much fun as it is educational. Everything on the site has a Louisiana flair, and it’s obvious that Louisiana residents are responding to that.”
The state’s largest health insurer and the Baton Rouge-based, world-class research center joined forces in January to fight obesity, one of the leading causes of preventable illness in our state. The Louisiana 2 Step campaign urges participants to visit a fun and interactive website, www.Louisiana2Step.com, where they can set personal goals and choose a virtual health coach to help motivate and encourage them. The site includes a wide variety of interactive educational and motivational tools to inspire visitors to make healthier lifestyle choices and to give them ideas on how to achieve those goals.
“We know even small changes in a daily routine to add movement and eat a little less can have significant health benefits,” said Pennington Biomedical Research Center scientist Phil Brantley, Ph.D. “I hope we’ll soon see our first 3,000 members do just that and ask their friends to join them.”
The burden of obesity hits our state hard:
- Louisiana ranks 4th in adult obesity in the nation.
- Being overweight and/or obese substantially increases the risk of hypertension, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis and various cancers.
- Obesity-related diseases account for nearly half of Louisiana’s health care budget.
- Almost 1 in 3 Louisiana school-aged children is overweight or obese.
Recent research has shown that small lifestyle changes can add up to better health and lowered risk for obesity-related diseases. For example, eating five or more servings of fruits or vegetables per day can help prevent heart disease, cancer and other chronic conditions. Yet in 2003, 84 percent of Louisianians reported that they did not consume at least five servings of fruits and vegetables per day.
About Blue Cross
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana is Louisiana-owned and -operated. Marking its 73rd anniversary this year, the company is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. It is a tax-paying mutual company, owned by its policyholders. Headquartered in Baton Rouge, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana also has district offices in Alexandria, Houma, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe, New Orleans and Shreveport. The company’s subsidiaries include HMO Louisiana, Inc. and Southern National Life Insurance Company, Inc.
About the Pennington Center
Opened in 1988, the Pennington Center now houses 14 research laboratories, 17 core service laboratories, inpatient and outpatient clinics, a research kitchen, an administrative area and more than $20 million in technologically advanced equipment.
The Center was expanded in 1993 to include the C.B. Pennington Jr. Conference Center, residence apartments, and an exercise and fitness facility. More than 70 faculty members and over 600 physicians, scientists, and support personnel focus their research efforts on six key areas: Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome, Experimental Obesity, Functional Foods, Nutrition and Chronic Diseases, Health and Performance Enhancement, and Nutrition and the Brain. For more information, visit www.pbrc.edu.
