Learn About Blue Zones Project

Blue Zones Project is a community-wide well-being improvement initiative to help make healthy choices easier for everyone in Southwest Florida.

A vital part of Southwest Florida's well-being improvement initiative, Blue Zones Project encourages changes to our community that lead to healthier options. When our entire community participates - from our worksites and schools to our restaurants and grocery stores - the small changes contribute to huge benefits for all of us: lowered healthcare costs, improved productivity, and ultimately, a higher quality of life.

History of Blue Zones

What began as a New York Times bestseller by National Geographic Fellow Dan Buettner has evolved into a global movement that's inspiring people to live longer, more active lives with lower rates of chronic disease.

From Sardinia, Italy, to Okinawa, Japan, to Loma Linda, California, people are living vibrant, active lives well into their hundreds. Buettner calls these areas Blue Zones and they're the inspiration behind his book, The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who've Lived the Longest. Buettner's research, along with a global longevity study, have led to a program that helps us live longer, healthier, and happier lives.

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Live longer by applying these principles from the people who have lived the longest.

Move Naturally
Find ways to move more! You'll burn more calories without thinking about it.
Down Shift
Reverse disease by finding a stress-relieving strategy that works for you..
Purpose
Wake up with purpose each day and add up to seven years to your life.
Plant Slant
Put more fruits and vegetables on your plate.
80% Rule
Eat mindfully and stop when 80% full.
Belong
Participating in a faith-based community can add up to 14 years to your life.
Friends @5
Schedule a weekly social hour with friends.
Right Tribe
Surround yourself with people who support you and positive behaviors.
Loved Ones First
Invest time with family to add up to six years to your life.

Transforming Well-Being in Southwest Florida

Southwest Florida is on its way to becoming a Blue Zones Community®. That means residents and business owners alike are focused on improving well-being for themselves and their neighbors. Together, we can lower obesity rates, smoking, and chronic disease to create a healthier, happier place to live, work, and play.

Worksites

Schools

Restaurants

Grocery Stores

Faith-Based

Other Organizations

Community Policy

Making Well-Being Work

Put Blue Zones Project to work at your worksite.

Many of us spend the majority of our day at work – so having healthy choices at our workplace is key. Blue Zones Project offers solutions for worksites to inspire employees to be happier and more productive at work and at home. A healthier employee costs less, too. When workers feel better and more connected to their colleagues, they miss less work, make greater contributions, and have lower healthcare costs.

Get the Worksite Pledge

Lessons in Well-Being

The healthier we make our schools, the healthier our kids will be.

Blue Zones Project® makes it easy for schools to teach students how to lead longer, happier lives. Schools are already an essential part of helping kids make smart choices about staying healthy. By encouraging better eating habits, implementing tobacco-free policies, and increasing physical activity, schools can use Blue Zones Project to help students and parents form healthy habits for life.

Get the School Pledge

Put Well-Being on the Menu

Blue Zones Project can help restaurants add healthier foods that will improve customer satisfaction and increase traffic.

Southwest Florida has plenty of choices when it comes to eating out. And Blue Zones Project can help restaurants offer even more healthy choices to keep and attract more customers. By surrounding ourselves with like-minded people who are focused on healthier living, we can move from dieting fads to meaningful lifestyle changes and drive more traffic to the restaurants that are offering delicious, good-for-you menu options.

Get the Restaurant Pledge

Stock up on Well-Being

Blue Zones Project helps grocery stores increase demand for healthier options that allow customers to feel better about what they’re feeding their families.

From farmers' markets to grocery stores, healthier food options are increasingly needed in Southwest Florida Blue Zones Project® can help local grocers educate their customers on improving their family's nutrition and provide easier access to healthful and tasty foods. If you're a local grocer, Blue Zones Project can help increase your traffic by making the healthy choice the easy choice.

Get the Grocery Store Pledge

Have Faith in Well-Being

Increase attendance at your faith-based organization by helping your members "belong to live long."

Southwest Florida has a strong and richly diverse faith-based community. Now professional and lay leaders of all denominations can share the Blue Zones Project programs with their congregations to help attract new members and inspire current members to increase their attendance. When we give the entire faith-based community an opportunity to make positive changes, healthier, happier lives will follow.

Get the Faith-Based Pledge

Organizing for Well-Being

Connect your club, group, or civic organization to the community and well-being.

Where we choose to live, work, play, and even the group of people with whom we spend our time, all influence the lifestyle choices we make. Blue Zones Project programs are designed to inspire, encourage, and promote well-being within your organization so your members are more socially connected and equipped to positively impact one another and the entire community.

Get the Organization Checklist

Stand for Well-Being

Blue Zones Project works with community leaders to inspire positive sustainable changes to policy and built-environment.

Community policy has a big impact on healthy choices. Sidewalks, bike lanes, community gardens, mobile food markets, farmers' markets, and other community infrastructures affect our ability to move naturally, connect socially, and access healthy food. When we make permanent changes to our surroundings, we can change behaviors and help our whole community lead healthier, happier, and longer lives.

Get the Organization Checklist
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