Building Healthier Communities

Dallas may not have won the bid for Amazon HQ2, but business and community leaders across the state are already learning and looking ahead to prepare Texas for the next opportunity. Our state has much to offer, including a thriving economy, relatively low cost of living, and plenty of available real estate, but our people are always our greatest asset.

The Cooper Institute is committed to building a better future, for Texas and for the rest of the country, by building healthier communities today. One area of concern is whether or not we have enough uniformed personnel to keep our communities and our country safe.

Nearly 75% of young adults are not fit for military service due to weight, fitness, criminal history and other factors. This can also mean that they are not fit to be first responders. Our goal is to help raise kids that are healthy and strong enough for any kind of service at home or abroad.

“[Children] are the future of this police department and they are our prospective police officers,” said Dallas Police Chief Renee Hall. “We have programs in place that encourage physical fitness and community engagement with our youth and we are committed to expanding those efforts.”

It starts with the health and wellness of our children, and it all started right here in Texas. In 1982, The Cooper Institute piloted the FitnessGram program in Richardson ISD with support from Campbell Soup Company to instill healthy habits early.

As the national test for the Presidential Youth Fitness Program, FitnessGram is the most widely used youth fitness assessment in the country, helping measure the physical fitness and aerobic capacity of more than 10 million students in 20,000 schools.

Physical fitness assessments, like FitnessGram, give us a true picture of their overall health and ensure that our young adults are ready for service and ready for life.

Healthy, active families build healthy, active communities. Business leaders, school leaders, legislatures, and The Cooper Institute can all work together to set students up for success in school and as a part of our future workforce. Their health and their success today is what our communities need to have healthy, productive and highly-skilled workers tomorrow.

To learn more about our vision for building healthier communities, check out our recent publication from the Dallas Business Journal and the work we are doing in Dallas. Read or download it from the Issue app or at bit.ly/BuildingDallasTogether.