Our Work | Fuel Up to Play 60

Develop, launch, and grow a national program aimed at expanding access to healthy eating and physical activity to support student wellness in schools.

The National Dairy Council (NDC) and its management organization Dairy Management, Inc. (DMI) sought to improve child health and address the issue of childhood obesity. To meet these goals, it teamed up with the National Football League (NFL) to found Fuel Up to Play 60 in conjunction with the USDA.

NDC and DMI engaged with MMS to help create, launch, market and oversee Fuel Up to Play 60, now called Fuel Up, which became the largest school wellness program in the country. The program was designed to encourage schools to make changes to increase access to and consumption of nutrient-rich foods and to strive for 60 minutes of physical activity every day. The program ran from 2009 until 2023, when it shifted to focus on nutrition and is now called Fuel Up.

What we did.
  • Played a key role in the design and strategy of the initial program pilot, working in close partnership with fellow agencies.
  • Created tools and resources for educators and students, including the “Playbook,” best-in-class action strategies for creating change in schools, and the Learning Plan, a standards-aligned supplemental resource.
  • Facilitated and managed micro-grants, available to help participating schools jump-start environmental change.
  • Adapted the program’s content delivery method to support educators during COVID-19 and remote/hybrid learning by creating Google Slides for educators to use.
  • As goals shifted to a nutrition-focused initiative, MMS has remained a key partner on strategic planning, content development, and educator outreach and engagement.
“MMS has been a trusted partner on Fuel Up to Play 60 since its inception. We rely on their education market expertise to guide our work in schools.”
Dottie Ryan, Vice President, Vice President, Youth Wellness
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Outcomes.
  • More than 73,000 schools across the country enrolled in Fuel Up to Play 60, which according to the research is helping to make healthy changes.
  • More than $40 million has been awarded to nearly 9,000 schools via Funds for Fuel Up to Play 60, allowing schools to improve access to school meals by supporting innovative meal programs.

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