Gov. Terry Branstad this morning joined business leaders in announcing an ambitious public-private program to make Iowa the healthiest state in the nation within the next five years.

As part of the initiative, Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield pledged to provide up to $25 million over the next five years to lead an information campaign based on the Blue Zones Project. Ten Iowa communities will be chosen through a competitive process to become Blue Zone communities. The communities selected will be provided resources and funding to help residents make lifestyle changes. Blue Zones are geographically defined places around the world where people live measurably longer lives.

The initiative will focus on helping Iowans to make comprehensive lifestyle changes at a grassroots level, Branstad said during a press conference at the Science Center of Iowa.

“This Healthiest State Initiative will assist Iowans in learning about and applying proven methods to live longer, happier and healthier lives,” Branstad said. Making comprehensive lifestyle changes could allow the state to redirect as much as $16 billion in funding over the next five years, he noted, based on estimates of health-care cost savings and gains in productivity.

Joining Branstad on the podium were Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, Congressmen Tom Latham and Leonard Boswell. Three Greater Des Moines businessmen, Wellmark CEO John Forsyth, Hy-Vee Inc. CEO Ric Jurgens and Doug Reichardt, chairman emeritus of Holmes Murphy & Associates Inc., will co-chair the initiative.

Branstad said the initiative differs from other wellness efforts under way.

“It’s bigger, more comprehensive and it involves leadership from the private sector,” he said. “I don’t know of anything as comprehensive.”  

Wellmark will use the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index to measure the results of the initiative. Iowa was ranked 19th among the states in that index in 2010.

A kick-off event for the initiative, a “Start Somewhere Walk,” will be held Oct. 7, with a goal of 250,000 Iowans participating in a one-kilometer walk. For more information about the walk and the initiative, visit www.IowaHealthiestState.com.