DOVER — The Delaware Division of Public Health’s Physical Activity, Nutrition and Obesity Prevention Program hosted its inaugural Advancing Healthy Lifestyles Conference Thursday.

The first ever in-person event of its kind featured participation from national, regional and local leaders in achieving health equity.

The event was held at Delaware State University’s Martin Luther King Jr. Conference Center with the theme of “Improving Health Through Equity.”

Participants also shared best practices to help end disparities throughout the state and empower healthier living for all Delawareans.

With the goal of removing barriers to health equity that exist in Delaware, the conference brought together public health policymakers, nonprofit advocates of health and wellness, educators, health care providers and researchers.

The event was developed to build on Gov. John Carney’s objective to launch a statewide effort to reduce the impact of obesity and chronic disease, and to evaluate and implement the recommendations of the Delaware Cancer Consortium.

“It didn’t take long into the pandemic to see the way COVID-19 worked to further widen the chasm of health disparities,” Department of Health and Social Services Secretary Molly Magarik said. “Our goal is to ensure all Delawareans have access to the tools they need to lead longer, healthier lives. Through this conference, we are leveraging the lessons from the pandemic to infuse new energy into our work and drove even greater success in achieving health equity.”

The conference’s key objectives were to reduce obesity and other chronic conditions; achieve health equity by focusing on coordinated school health and wellness, community capacity building, and workplace wellness; advance workplace wellness; support the efforts fo community-based organizations; and foster connections between youth-serving organizations and schools.