Public Service Announcement with Abby Cadabby Encourages Children and Caregivers to “Eat a Rainbow” of Colors – Healthy and Affordable Fruits and Vegetables

MINNETONKA, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UnitedHealthcare and Sesame Workshop are sharing the importance of making food choices that establish lifelong healthy habits during a 30-second Public Service Announcement (PSA) titled “Eat a Rainbow,” featuring Reed V. Tuckson, M.D., Senior Medical Advisor, United Health Foundation, and Sesame Street’s Abby Cadabby.

“We are thrilled to partner with Sesame Workshop to offer tools and resources to help parents and caregivers gain a greater understanding of the relationship between healthy habits and children’s healthy growth. The PSA is a great way to share tips with families to help them stay healthy.”

During the PSA, Abby Cadabby and Dr. Tuckson talk with children and families about eating a rainbow of colors found in fruits and vegetables like oranges, bananas, blueberries, green beans and tomatoes as part of a balanced diet.

“We are passionate about encouraging and enabling families to make healthy choices early in life and providing them with access to healthy food,” said Dr. Tuckson. “We are thrilled to partner with Sesame Workshop to offer tools and resources to help parents and caregivers gain a greater understanding of the relationship between healthy habits and children’s healthy growth. The PSA is a great way to share tips with families to help them stay healthy.”

The “Eat a Rainbow” PSA is part of UnitedHealthcare’s Healthy Habits for Life partnership with Sesame Workshop, which includes bilingual (English and Spanish) educational outreach materials through the Sesame Street Food for Thought: Eating Well on a Budget™ initiative. Food for Thought aims to help families, with children ages two to eight, make food choices that are affordable and nutritional, and that set the foundation for lifelong healthy habits.

“As an organization, we share UnitedHealthcare’s passion for encouraging and helping kids to be healthy and stay healthy,” said Dr. Jeanette Betancourt, SVP, Outreach & Educational Practices at Sesame Workshop. “The partnership is a perfect pairing that sparks positive change and improved health to help all kids reach their highest potential.”

Since the launch of Food for Thought in 2010, Sesame Workshop has unveiled independent research indicating the Food for Thought program has been successful in helping families increase their knowledge, beliefs and behaviors around nutrition. The research found that within four weeks’ exposure to the Food for Thought kit, nearly three in four families reported making positive nutritional changes including seeking information on how to cope with food insecurity, taking steps to save money on food and making changes to promote healthy eating in the family. To learn more about eating your colors, visit the Food For Thought website at www.sesamestreet.org/food.

About Sesame WorkshopSesame Workshop is the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, the landmark television program that reaches millions of children every day in more than 150 countries. The Workshop’s mission is to use the educational power of media to help children everywhere reach their highest potential. Delivered through a variety of platforms, Sesame Workshop develops research-based content – including television programs, books, games, mobile apps and community engagement initiatives – that supports early childhood learning, helps prepare children for school, and addresses developmental needs. The Workshop’s programs are tailored to the needs of specific regions and focus on topics that help young children and families develop critical skills for lifelong learning. For more information, visit us at www.sesameworkshop.org.

About UnitedHealthcareUnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people nationwide live healthier lives by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. The company offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 650,000 physicians and care professionals and 5,000 hospitals nationwide. UnitedHealthcare serves more than 38 million people and is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company.

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