Earlier this month, the Obesity Action Coalition (OAC), producers of the Your Weight Matters Campaign, hosted its 6th Annual Your Weight Matters National Convention in the heart of New Orleans – and we experienced our most ENGAGED audience yet!
More than 500 registrants from across the country gathered under one roof to exemplify this year’s Convention theme: Coming Together to Educate, Advocate and Celebrate HEALTH! Attendees from all backgrounds and experiences with an interest in learning more about weight and health joined together for a weekend filled with education, celebration and the chance to connect with a community of people who understand what it’s like to travel the weight management journey. Having that kind of community can take your journey to the NEXT LEVEL!
YWM2017: Coming Together to do MORE for Our Health!
Education
It’s no easy task to find information about weight and health you can trust. YWM2017 offered more than 50 educational topics presented by leading experts from all across the industry! Topics ranged from meal planning
tips, weight maintenance and navigating social situations to exercise considerations, finding support networks and more. And, as an additional benefit, the Your Weight Matters Healthy Living EXPO Hall offered a variety of exhibitors/vendors with helpful products, services and samples for interested individuals.
The YWM2017 Education Program truly had it all: evidence-based research on today’s hottest topics and tons of inspiration to fuel attendees on their journeys!
Advocacy
Health advocates make it possible for others to have access to the RIGHT education on weight and health, as well as critical healthcare and treatment tools. YWM2017 brought the topic of advocacy to life by showing attendees:
- How to influence legislative change on the local, state and national levels
- How to ENGAGE with the OAC and make a positive impact for the more than 93 million Americans affected by excess weight or obesity.
Anyone can be a health advocate – including the average, everyday individual looking to take charge of their weight and health. Imagine having the support of people who actively fight for you to have the education, tools and resources you need to be successful. That’s what YWM2017 taught attendees to do!
Celebration
No matter where you are on your health journey, celebrating YOURSELF and your support systems is important. Through a variety of community-building events, YWM2017 gave attendees a chance to let loose, break down emotional and physical barriers, honor each others’ presence and celebrate our lives!
With a Welcoming Ceremony filled with New-Orleans themed inspiration, special chances to mingle and connect and a final “Send-off” to the event that allowed attendees to reflect on the weekend, we saw our most ENGAGED and passionate audience yet. It was truly life-changing!
To see a complete recap of our YWM2017 weekend, visit our Storify collection of digital memories by CLICKING HERE.
YWM2018 Announced!
On Friday Night of YWM2017, the OAC unveiled our new location for our 7th Annual Your Weight Matters National Convention. Next year, we’ll be joining together in the mile high city of Denver from July 19-22!
We encourage you to Save the Date for YWM2017 and stay tuned for updates through our Convention E-News Alerts. We can confidently say that our Annual Convention grows stronger every year, so you WON’T
want to miss this extraordinary event!
