Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network are teaming up with Detroit Lion quarterback Matthew Stafford to battle childhood obesity and promote healthy living with a video contest for kids in 4th grade through 8th grade. The child who submits the winning video entry will receive a school assembly featuring Matthew Stafford and host his/her own healthy lifestyle video blog series at aHealthierMichigan.org!

Video submissions should be no more than two minutes long. They should creatively answer the question “What would you do to make Michigan healthier?” and include the student’s perspective on how themselves, their family, teachers and classmates can live a healthier life. Students should explain how they would communicate healthy lifestyle choices with their families and fellow students.

Students, grades four through eight, must be enrolled in an accredited public or private learning institution within Michigan to participate.

Students can submit a video using any digital recording device using an MP3 format, such as a smartphone, iPad, Flip video or webcam, or they can upload a video via YouTube. For more information, please visit aHealthierMichigan.org/kidcontest.

Video submissions are being accepted through March 29. In April, 10 semi-finalists will be selected and notified and their video submissions will be posted on aHealthierMichigan.org for a two-week public voting period. The winner will be announced in early May.     

The “Make the Play for Healthy Habits” kid contest is an extension of BCBSM’s ongoing efforts to combat childhood obesity by encouraging kids to share their ideas using creativity and new media. In addition, this week BCBSM announced that elementary schools can apply for a new round of grant funding from Building Healthy Communities, a partnership with the Michigan Fitness Foundation, Wayne State University's College of Education Center for School Health and the United Dairy Institute of Michigan. Since 2009, BCBSM, the program’s creator and primary funder, has invested more than $3 million in the Building Healthy Communities program in an effort to promote healthier lifestyles and prevent childhood obesity and its associated health risks.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network are nonprofit corporations and independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. For more company information, visit bcbsm.com.