LifeWise Health Plan Washington and partner Treeswing, a leading local voice on the issue of childhood obesity, announced the winner of the Hunt 4 Health High School Video Challenge.

Students from Lake Washington High School in Kirkland won first place, earning $7,000 for their school’s nutrition and physical education programs, as well as individual prizes including Visa gift cards and Go Pro video cameras. LifeWise and Treeswing awarded the prizes to students and teachers at a school assembly on March 22.

The Hunt 4 Health contest asked King and Snohomish county high school students to create an original video that answered the question: “What do you and your friends do to stay healthy and active?”

The goal of the contest was to encourage teens to play an active role in their own health and give schools the tools to help improve their nutrition and physical activity programs. Achieving this goal is more important than ever because according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 25 percent of Washington youth are overweight, putting them at high risk of diabetes, heart disease, cancer and asthma.

“LifeWise really enjoyed launching this contest with Treeswing,” said Jeff Roe, LifeWise president and CEO. “Supporting our members in their choices to live healthier and more active lives is a big part of what we do at LifeWise, so we were excited to work with local schools to raise awareness of healthy choices.”

Jeremy Sacks, a senior at Lake Washington High School, submitted the winning video called “The Healthy Song” – featuring an original song, healthy snack cameos and a solo dance sequence. The Lake Washington students’ big picture message was captured in the song’s chorus saying, “…It can be as easy as walking down the street, it’s not only exercise it’s also things you eat.”

“We’re thrilled to receive this money to help fund our physical education and health programs here at Lake Washington High School,” said LWHS teacher, Jill Johnson. “Our goal is to enrich our programs so that all students, regardless of current fitness level, want to participate and learn how to lead healthier lives.”

Enumclaw and Auburn High School students represent the second and third place winners, receiving $5,000 and $3,000 respectively for their schools’ health programs, as well as Visa gift cards and fitness goodie bags for the student video teams.

LifeWise and Treeswing announced the top 10 finalists from Roosevelt (Seattle), Lake Washington, Nova (Seattle), Enumclaw, Auburn, West Seattle and Cascade (Everett) high schools last December. Public voting ran through the month of January.