Healthy Eating and Active Living Foundation, Inc.

To create HEAL, I had to write and file the Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws, and file for tax exemption. I also organized a Board of Trustees and raised immediate funds by writing to organizations to ask for funds. In order to expand the efforts of HEAL, first I worked within the grassroots level. I started the aforementioned club, Wootton Health Organization (WHO) at my school, Wootton High School. I also met with the principal, and county officials like the Food Service Directors to develop policies that would create a healthier environment at school, like limiting the numberof hours per day that vending machines are available to students. In addition, as an intern at the National Institutes of Health, I ran a behavorial intervention using pedometers to increase the physical activity of the employees at the workplace. While there was an increase in physical activity, I realized that it was the maintenence of this healthy and active lifestyle that is the most crucial aspect to the problem. Thus in my senior thesis, I explored economic incentives as a means of promoting healthy living and discovered that there are several disincentives and incentives that can be employed for this cause.