"The reality is this: If we do not make a serious, sustained commitment to prevention, we will never be able to have a significant impact on either health status or health care costs."
Mark W. Banks, MD
CEO, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota
In 2006, Blue Cross CEO Dr. Mark Banks began talking with Minnesota's business leaders
and elected officials about the state's long-term outlook for improving health and
containing health care costs.
Several leaders agreed that the most effective way to improve health and decrease
future costs would be to prevent avoidable diseases. That's the mission of the Fittest
State in the Nation (FSIN) initiative.
FSIN was inspired by both research and common sense, as the two most effective ways
to prevent avoidable diseases are already well known. Simply increasing physical
activity to a moderate level on most days and eating at least five servings of fruits
and vegetables daily can help all Minnesotans reduce their risk of cancer, heart
disease, stroke, diabetes and other preventable diseases by 30 percent or more.
By encouraging Minnesotans to build increased physical activity and healthier eating
into their daily lives, FSIN aims to increase health, reduce expenses and make Minnesota
the fittest state in the nation by the year 2020.
Fittest State in the Nation complements and extends the impact of Prevention Minnesota,
Blue Cross' $241 million long-term initiative to reduce four major risk factors
for heart disease and cancer: tobacco use, exposure to secondhand smoke, physical
inactivity and unhealthy eating.