The Harlem Globetrotters will lead a national public awareness campaign on the link between nutrition and physical activity. Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina will make nutrition coaching and a healthy food delivery program a standard benefit for members. Sixteen cities across the U.S. will create task forces or develop action plans to end hunger and reduce diseases related to diet by 2030.

The initiatives are among more than 140 pledges by health systems, insurance companies, nonprofit groups, philanthropic organizations, local governments and others who are contributing to a White House challenge to end hunger and build healthy communities.

Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, was announcing the $1.7 billion in new commitments at the White House on Tuesday alongside chef Jose Andres and WNBA player Elena Delle Donne, and administration officials. Andres and Delle Donne chair the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, an advisory body that promotes healthy eating and exercise.

The new pledges are in addition to $8 billion in commitments announced in September 2022 at the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health. At the conference, President Joe Biden announced he had set a goal to end hunger and reduce diet-related diseases by 2030 while reducing health disparities.

About 12.8% of U.S. households, or about 17 million, did not have enough money or other resources to get sufficient food in 2022, according to the Economic Research Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That was up from 10.2% in 2021.

The new pledges follow Emhoff’s announcement earlier in February that more than a dozen sports leagues and players’ associations, from the NFL to the PGA Tour, have promised to provide more opportunities for people to be physically active and learn about nutrition and adopting healthy lifestyles.

(AP)