Please first choose a strategy and then choose an audience in order to see what other states have done for a specific audience using a particular strategy.

To assist states in finding programs and policies that meet particular needs and capabilities, we have provided a relative cost rating system that estimates the cost of participating in or replicating these initiatives.

Intervention strategies to promote wellness and healthy lifestyles fall into four categories.

Inform and Educate

Two of the most frequently used strategies for promoting behavior change are increasing awareness of a problem and providing access to information about it. A number of programs and policies provide information about healthy eating behaviors, the benefits of physical activity, and the dangers of obesity and overweight. These initiatives are most often implemented in schools through the curricula or by using the media to reach a broad population through social marketing campaigns. Some efforts are aimed at increasing the type of information provided-such as schools sending home reports on students' body mass index (BMI) or other health indicators, or requiring restaurants and food labels to display nutritional content information.

Alter Choices

Personal responsibility is a crucial part of any solution to improving healthy lifestyles, but it's hard for people to make healthy choices when healthy alternatives aren't available. Examples are the lack of sidewalks or bicycle lanes, both of which promote physical activity; the overwhelming availability of unhealthy junk food rather than nutritious foods; or the lack of places to buy fresh produce. Strategies in this category aim to expand access to opportunities to engage in positive behaviors or reduce opportunities to engage in unhealthy activities.

Provide Financial Incentives

Financial incentives may be implemented through employers, through health insurance companies, or though taxes on specific commercial products. Some states have levied taxes against certain snacks, providing a disincentive to consumption. In the health insurance industry, financial incentives include paying for plan members' gym memberships, commercial weight loss programs, and dietary counseling, or offering health plans that reward members who maintain a healthy weight with lower premiums (to the extent allowable by law).

Broad Reform

This includes any strategy that sets requirements for population-wide behaviors relating to the promotion of healthy lifestyles. This strategy is less feasible for obesity than it has been for other public health problems like tobacco or alcohol use. Applying population-wide restrictions to unhealthy foods is often more difficult for cultural or political reasons. However, schools are one place where such interventions are more feasible. Mandating physical education classes and prohibiting the in-school sales of unhealthy foods are examples of how some states are pursuing this strategy.