The State of Arkansas (represented by Governor Mike Huckabee) and Pfizer, Inc. (NYSE: PFE)_ has formed Balance It Out: Arkansas - a new school-based community program designed to reduce the number of overweight children (or at risk of becoming overweight) thereby effectively diminishing their risk of developing chronic illnesses.

The said program will commence on December 2006 in Little Rock, AR, with a health fair for state employees designed to increase awareness of health risk factors and steps to prevent disease, in the hope that at the start of 2007, the program would have reached children and their families in the Dollarway (Pine Bluff), Harrison and Paragould school districts.

Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee stated:

"We all understand that obesity is one of the most critical public health threats in the U.S., because being overweight increases the risk of many chronic diseases and health conditions. Balance it Out: Arkansas will give children, their families and the surrounding community practical tools and coaching to make healthy choices for themselves and their futures."

The said program will introduce a variety of initiatives to the three school districts, including deploying trained community teams and school nurses to assist and coach children to better understand the health risks of being overweight and to make incremental, lasting changes to their nutrition and fitness behavior.

Also, at risk families will be provided with nutritional counseling and classes on healthy cooking, eating and food shopping. Those chronically ill Medicaid beneficiaries with children in the proposed school districts will receive one-on-one health coaching to improve their families' overall health.

Read the full press release.