The Greater Flint Health Coalition’s 2011 (15th) Annual Meeting of the Members will take place Wednesday, December 7, 2011 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Riverfront Banquet Center in downtown Flint. Dee Edington, Ph.D. will serve as Keynote Speaker on the topic of “Population Health as a Serious Business Strategy in the 21st Century.” In addition to the feature keynote address by Dr. Edington, annual GFHC business will be conducted in accordance with GFHC bylaws. A reception will take place immediately following the conclusion of the Annual Meeting.

In celebration of the GFHC’s 15th year, this public annual meeting will be open to all GFHC members, partners, and friends, as well as interested community members. Attendance is free with a RSVP submitted before December 7, 2011. RSVPs can be submitted directly to the GFHC by telephone at (810) 232-2228 or email at gfhc@flint.org. For questions, please contact Jill Dempsey at the Greater Flint Health Coalition.

Keynote Speaker Biography: Dee W. Edington, Ph.D. is the Director of the Health Management Research Center at the University of Michigan and renowned author of “ZERO TRENDS: Health as a Serious Economic Strategy.” Trained in mathematics, kinesiology, and biochemistry, Dr. Edington received his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Michigan State University and completed his M.S. at Florida State University. He taught at the University of Massachusetts before coming to Michigan in 1976. Dr. Edington is the author or co-author of over 500 articles, presentations, and several books, including Biology of Physical Activity, Biological Awareness, Frontiers of Exercise Biology, The One Minute Manager Gets Fit and the 2nd edition, The One Minute Manager Balances Work and Life. Dr. Edington’s teaching and research focus on the relationship between healthy lifestyles, vitality, and quality of life, as they benefit both individuals and organizations. He is specifically interested in how individual health promotion, worksite wellness activities, and programs within organizations impact health care cost containment, productivity, and human resource development. Dr. Edington and the Health Management Research Center studies the precursors to disease and vitality and serves as an innovative, world-class leader in driving towards information-driven decision making in the evolving new health care environment.

Following the success of the Commit to Fit! Fall 4 Fitness Business-to-Business Challenge, the Greater Flint Health Coalition is pleased to announce the next opportunity to join the Commit to Fit! MOVEment in Genesee County with the Healthy Holidays Challenge.

A six-week, individual-based overall wellness challenge, the Healthy Holidays Challenge encourages individuals to practice simple, daily activities to be more active, eat healthier (a challenge in itself during every holiday season), and promote wellness to others. All individuals who live or work in Genesee County can participate at no cost by registering and tracking their activities at www.commit-2-fit.org. Those who complete the challenge goal will be eligible for a number of fantastic prizes.

The Commit to Fit! Healthy Holidays Challenge goal is for each participant to reach 5,000 or more Commit to Fit! Wellness Points during the six-week challenge period of November 1 through December 12, 2011. Wellness Points can be earned by incorporating simple healthy behaviors and activities into one’s every day routine. A detailed breakdown follows:

• 10 Points for each day with a Login
• 50 Points for every 2,500 Steps Logged in the 
Physical Activity Tracker
• 10 Points for every 2 Fruit & Vegetable Servings
• 10 Points for every 3 Hydration Servings
• 100 Points for every 1 pound of Weight Loss
• 50 Points for Starting a Team
• 25 Points for Joining a Team
• 10 Points for sending a Motivational E-Card
• 5 Points for Posting to Challenge Message Board
• 25 Points for Submitting an Event
• 10 Points for Each Day that you meet your 
“Daily Steps Goal”
• 25 Points for Submitting a Testimonial

All those who meet the challenge goal of 5,000 or more Commit to Fit! Wellness Points will be entered into a grand prize raffle for a number of great rewards. There will also be weekly prize drawings throughout each week of the challenge period.

For more information or to sign up, visit www.commit-2-fit.org, sign-in (or register if new to Commit to Fit!), and register for the challenge by visiting the “My Challenges” page to “Join Challenge – Healthy Holidays Challenge.”

It’s that simple. Register today – and tell a friend, family member, or co-worker to join the Commit to Fit! MOVEment with you today.

A first of its kind community-wide business-to-business challenge, the Commit to Fit! Fall 4 Fitness Challenge was an effort to engage employers to promote wellness in the workplace. Based upon the established model of Greater Flint Health Coalition members HealthPlus of Michigan and Citizens Bank’s annual business vs. business challenge, Fall 4 Fitness sought to offer a fun way to practice healthy behaviors in a competitive workplace challenge that was promoted community-wide.

In this first annual event, 50 businesses and organizations signed up to compete in Fall 4 Fitness with a four-week goal for each participant to practice 30 minutes of physical activity each day. Nearly half of the 4,500 participants met or exceeded the total challenge goal of 780 minutes. In total, over 3 Million minutes of physical activity was logged during Fall 4 Fitness. The Commit to Fit! interactive website – www.commit-2-fit.org – recorded over 27,000 individual log-ins during the challenge period.

On October 25th, the Greater Flint Health Coalition and Fall 4 Fitness lead sponsor HealthPlus of Michigan announced the winners in the Small and Large Business Divisions of the challenge, as follows:

Small Business pision (Employers with 10-99 employees)

Winners – Highest Average Minutes Per Participant:
1st Place – Crim Fitness Foundation (1325 Average Minutes)
2nd Place – Benefit Review Services (1181 Average Minutes)
3rd Place – Greater Flint Health Coalition (1176 Average Minutes)

Winner – Highest Percentage of Total Employee Participation:
1st Place – Benefit Review Services (100% Participation)

Winner – Highest Percentage of Participant Goal Attainment:
1st Place – Benefit Review Services (93% Goal Attainment)

Large Business pision (Employers with 100+ employees)

Winners – Highest Average Minutes Per Participant:
1st Place – Genesee County Community Mental Health (1236 Average Minutes)
2nd Place – Case Manufacturing (1228 Average Minutes)
3rd Place – Pioneer State Mutual Insurance Company (1059 Average Minutes)

Winner – Highest Percentage of Total Employee Participation:
1st Place – HealthPlus of Michigan (77% Participation)

Winner – Highest Percentage of Participant Goal Attainment:
1st Place – Pioneer State Mutual Insurance Company (83% Goal Attainment)

In addition to the business winners, over 33 total cash prizes were awarded totaling $3,000 to raffle prize winners eligible for meeting their 30 minutes per day goal for the total challenge period.

For more information on Commit to Fit! visit www.commit-2-fit.org today, register, and join the movement for your first steps to a healthier, happier life.