WASHINGTON--Governors of more than 45 states and territories gathered here today for the Opening Plenary session of the 2006 National Governors Association (NGA) Healthy America Forum and Winter Meeting. Senior state health policy leaders and business executives, who were invited by governors, also participated in the two-day forum to tackle pressing health and wellness issues.

The forum is an integral part of NGA Chairman Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's Healthy America: Wellness Where We Live, Work and Learn initiative, which focuses on creating a culture of wellness through healthy eating habits, increased physical activity and prevention of obesity-related diseases. This national initiative is designed to spur governors to enact real, tangible statewide solutions to help everyone in their states–children, teenagers, adults and seniors–become healthier and more active.

Following the Healthy America 5K Fun Run/Walk, forum participants gathered for Saturday's opening plenary session at the JW Marriott Hotel. The plenary began with an inspirational message from Joan Benoit Samuelson, two-time winner of the Boston Marathon and the only American woman ever to win an Olympic Marathon gold medal. Yale University's Dr. David Katz then defined the epidemic of poor health in America. The session was keynoted by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt, who outlined his vision for changing America's health care system from disease treatment to disease prevention and discussed how this proactive approach to health can be achieved.

"I know that my fellow governors and their partners from state government and the private sector learned a great deal from Secretary Leavitt and Dr. Katz, and were inspired by the words of the remarkable Joan Benoit Samuelson," said NGA Chairman Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. "This session perfectly set the stage for the urgent work we will do here during the Healthy America Forum."

To help forum participants frame the discussion of these critical issues, NGA earlier this week released two key documents, Call to Action: An Agenda for America's Governors and Creating Healthy States: Actions for Governors. The Call to Action focuses on concrete data that define the toll that chronic diseases and obesity take on the American people and the health of the economy. It calls upon all governors to redouble their efforts in taking a proactive role promoting health and wellness in their state. The Actions for Governors focuses on the three areas of wellness: communities, workplaces and schools, and offers governors 15 tangible, cost effective tools to promote health and wellness in their states. It also includes 25 state-specific case studies which highlight governors' implementation of related best practices.

"To address the epidemic of poor health in America, we as policymakers, medical professionals and business leaders must first understand the problem," said NGA Vice Chair Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano. "The Call to Action and Creating Healthy States documents released this week allow us to come to this forum with a better understanding of the challenges states are facing around these issues of critical importance to our nation's future, and ideas for action steps we as governors can take to overcome these challenges."