Each January, the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) convenes in Washington, D.C. for its annual Winter Meeting. Since 2012, the USCM and the American Beverage Foundation for a Healthy America have joined together in a public-private partnership to support new or existing programs created by mayors to help combat childhood obesity. On January 24, ABA's President & CEO Katherine Lugar joined the mayors to announce the 2019 Childhood Obesity Prevention Award winners. 

This year the first-place award in the large cities category went to Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles, California for the "Universal Play" program. Universal Play provides subsidized recreational programming to kids across Los Angeles to increase the physical well-being and healthy development of LA's youth. 

With the help of the USCM and the American Beverage Foundation for a Healthy America, Universal Play will be implemented at seven high-need recreation centers across LA. Programs at the centers vary and include co-ed seasonal sports leagues, girls' seasonal sports leagues, co-ed fitness classes and girls' fitness classes. The program has a special focus on improving gender equity in sports by lowering the costs for female participants and encouraging girls to play. 

Thanks to the hard work of Mayor Eric Garcetti and the leaders of the Universal Play program, underserved kids in Los Angeles have the opportunity to be active, have fun and learn valuable life lessons through sports and other fitness activities. The American Beverage Association is proud to partner with the USCM to support this much-needed initiative. 

Universal Play LA from American Beverage Association on Vimeo.