Surgeon General Announces National Healthy App Challenge to Promote Healthy Lifestyles

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Contact: OASH Press Office
(202) 205-0143

Washington, DC — U. S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, M.D., MBA, today announced a new app contest to promote her latest “healthy lifestyles” challenge to the American people. Dr. Benjamin announced the new initiative during the 2011 mHealth Summit, where public and private sector leaders came together to collaborate on wireless technology tools that could help improve health outcomes in the United States and abroad.

The Surgeon General’s Healthy App Challenge will highlight the ability of innovative new technologies to provide health information tailored to the needs of the user, and empower the general public to regularly engage in, and enjoy, health-promoting behaviors. Winners of the app challenge will be chosen in the following categories: fitness/physical activity; nutrition/healthy eating; and integrative health.

“I’m announcing the Surgeon General’s Healthy Apps Challenge to encourage Americans to lead healthier lives and weave prevention into their daily lives. My aim is not just to help people be healthy and fit – it’s to help people have fun while they are doing this,” said Dr. Benjamin.

The Surgeon General supports using new technologies to bring healthy lifestyle messages to the American people. She has been involved in the following Consumer e-health initiatives led by the HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology:

E-health records for patients and clinicians;
Family health portrait;
SmokefreeTXT – free mobile phone-based cessation service for teen smokers; and
Text4Baby breastfeeding messages.

“I strongly believe in the importance of empowering individuals to make healthy choices with any tool available to them. As our nation transforms its healthcare system into one that rewards prevention, individuals will increasingly benefit from the myriad of tools available to help them manage everything from dietary choices to our fitness and activity levels, or any other contributor to personal health,” said Dr. Farzad Mostashari, the national coordinator for health IT.

To learn more about the Surgeon General’s Healthy Application Challenge, eligibility rules, and key dates, please visit: http://sghealthyapps.challenge.gov/.

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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.