Announcements

Greetings from the office of the President's Challenge Physical Activity and Fitness Awards Program! You have received the July 2003 issue of fitnessisfun, the official e-mail distribution of the President's Challenge. These monthly e-mails will keep you updated on our program, activities of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (PCPFS) and other current information pertaining to fitness.

CHALLENGE UPDATES COMING SOON
Stay tuned for exciting news and updates on the President's Challenge Program coming this school year including revised materials and additional free tools on the website!

THE PRESIDENT'S CHALLENGE IS MOVING!!!
Please be aware that the President's Challenge Physical Activity and Fitness Awards Program will be moving to a new address as of July 1, 2003. The program's phone number, e-mail address and website will remain the same.
The new address is:

FUNDING FOR "STEPS TO A HEALTHIERUS": REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS
The Department of Health and Human Services, acting through the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (http://www.cdc.gov/), and all other relevant Health and Human Services agencies have announced the availability of funding for the year 2003. This funding will be used towards implementing Secretary Thompson's Prevention Initiative for Americans, entitled "Steps to a HealthierUS". For the fiscal year of 2003 $15 million has been allocated, with over $13 million available to begin the program. The purpose of Steps is to reduce the burden of chronic diseases associated with obesity and being overweight. Those eligible for funding include local health departments, state health departments and tribes. Applications are due by September 22 and funding will be awarded accordingly. For full details of this funding opportunity and application processes, please visit http://www.healthierus.gov/steps/steps_brochure.html.

PRESIDENT'S CHALLENGE SPOTLIGHT: HOME DEPOT
Home Depot, the fastest growing retailer in U.S. History, is the newest corporation to take part in the President's Challenge Physical Fitness and Activity Awards Program. Through their "Building Better Health" program, they have incorporated the Presidential Adult Active Lifestyle Award at both the regional and national levels. If you would like to read more, please visit: http://www.indiana.edu/~preschal/resource/fitnessisfun/2003/july03_pg2.html.

CAROL M. WHITE PEP GRANT NEWS
Good news for the PEP Grant!! The House Labor-HHS-Ed Appropriations SubCommittee has included in its bill $60 million for the Carol M. White PEP Program. The House Committee has never before funded the PEP Grant as it has zeroed it out the previous three years. During these three years, it has been the Senate that has funded PEP. This year's Senate prospects are again thought to be good, benefiting the PEP program even further. For current updates on the PEP Grant's progress, please visit http://www.pe4life.org.

USDA: THE POWER OF CHOICE LEADER'S GUIDE
The Power of Choice: Helping Youth Make Healthy Eating and Fitness Decisions Leader's Guide was developed by the Health and Human Services Food and Drug Administration and the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service. It is intended for after-school program leaders working with young adolescents and contains activity materials, a recipe booklet, parent letter and nutrition fact cards. There is also a cd containing a slide show overview, The Power of Choice song and video entitled "It's All About You". The President's Challenge is offering free copies of this guide to the first 100 requests. Please send requests to the President's Challenge e-mail account at http://www.PresidentsChallenge.org.

CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL: OBESITY FASTEST-GROWING HEALTH THREAT
A recent recalculation of the actual causes of death in the United States by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (http://www.cdc.gov) has found that obesity is fast approaching the number one position. Currently, the number one cause of death is tobacco. CDC Director, Julie Gerberding, stressed that small lifestyle changes can make a large impact on combating obesity. For example, reducing caloric consumption by 100 calories per day, increasing physical activity to burn 100 calories more per day, or taking the stairs rather than the elevator each day are subtle changes that can be made to prevent additional weight gain for most people. To read more about this health threat, please visit http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/diet.fitness/06/05/obesity.reut/index.html or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website at http://www.cdc.gov.

CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL: 1 IN 3 KIDS MAY GET DIABETES
Dr. K.M. Venkat Narayan, a diabetes epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control (www.cdc.gov), speculates that one in three U.S. children born in 2000 will become diabetic, due in large part to poor eating habits and sedentary lifestyles. This statistic is based on results from the annual National Health Interview Survey, performed by the U.S. Census Bureau, and from a previous study of diabetes as a cause of death. The National Health Interview Survey was administered to approximately 360,000 people from the years 1984-2000. The implications from Dr. Narayan's findings are shocking. If true, some 45 million to 50 million U.S. residents could have diabetes by the year 2050. Diabetes leads to problems such as blindness, kidney failure, heart disease, and amputation. Doctors and other medical professionals are well aware of the rise in the number of people suffering from Type 2 diabetes; however, the patients continue to get younger and younger. For more information on this study, please visit http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/conditions/06/14/diabetes.risk.ap/index.html.

SURVEY: PARENTS BELIEVE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY KEY TO PREVENTING OBESITY
A recent survey from the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) has revealed that parents see physical activity as key to their children's optimal health and academic success. Ninety-five percent of parents surveyed thought that physical activity helps children perform better academically. Seventy-six percent of parents thought that physical education classes could help control and prevent childhood obesity. Most parents also felt that physical education classes should be part of the school curriculum for all K-12 students and that these classes are just as important or even more important that classes such as math, science and English. Other survey questions involved the role of physical activity and eating habits in the prevalence of childhood obesity and the importance of nutrition classes in a student's curriculum. For more information on this survey, please visit the NASPE website at http://www.aahperd.org/naspe/template.cfm?template=pr_042903.html.

SCHOOL CHANGES COULD HELP KIDS BE MORE ACTIVE & EAT BETTER
A team of California researchers recently evaluated the effects of environmental and policy changes in schools with regard to helping kids become more physically active and eat better. The changes were specific to physical education, as well as other physical activity opportunities, and foods offered at school cafeteria and stores. Environmental and policy changes were made at two schools following the collection of baseline data in 1997. This allowed the researchers to observe student's physical activity during physical education classes, physical activity before school, during lunch and after school on school grounds, tracked dietary fat purchased from school sources or brought from home and randomly polled students about their physical activity habits and dietary fat intake with the changes in place. It was found that the changes resulted in some positive effects for boys in both increased physical activity and reduced body mass index, but no such benefits occurred for girls. To read more about this study, please read the article in it's entirety in the May 10, 2003 issue of Obesity, Fitness and Wellness Week.

EXPERT: OBESITY EPIDEMIC TO GET WORSE
Obesity is not only a nationwide problem within the United States, but it has become a worldwide epidemic affecting over 250 million adults. At the 12th European Congress on Obesity, held May 29-June 1, 2003 in Helsinki, Finland, experts identified adolescents as the most rapidly increasing population with respect to obesity and being overweight. It was found that obesity among adolescents has increased more rapidly than among the middle age and adult populations. These adolescents will most likely mature into obese adults, increasing their risks of suffering from type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and certain cancers. For a more information on the meeting of the 12th European Congress on Obesity, please visit http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/diet.fitness/06/01/obesity.epidemic.reut/index.html.

LEANEST STATE IN THE NATION GAINS WEIGHT
The state of Colorado is still the leanest state in the nation and has been for several years; however, the obesity rate for adults has more than doubled from 6.9% in 1990 to 14.9% in 2001. The survey in which these percentages are based is taken from 2,000 Colorado residents and is performed annually by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. This percentage suggests that of the 3.3 million Colorado adult residents, over 450,000 are obese causing concern for state health officials as well as residents. Obesity is a critical health issue as it is linked to heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, some cancers, and diabetes. For more information on this issue, please visit http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-06-13-colorado-bulge_x.htm.

PROFILE: COUNICIL MEMBER CHARLES M. MOORE
Mr. Charles M. Moore is currently the Executive Director of the Committee to Encourage Corporate Philanthropy, a privately funded organization with the goal of raising the level and awareness of corporate giving. Mr. Moore was an Olympic gold medallist in the 400-meter hurdles in the 1952 Summer Olympic Games. He has had numerous influential roles that include serving as the Director of Athletics for Cornell University, as Public Sector Director of the United States Olympic Committee, and President of the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletics of America. Currently, Mr. Moore also serves as the Governor of the National Art Museum of Sport, Director of The Sports Authority, Commissioner of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and is active in numerous other philanthropic organizations. For more information about Mr. Moore as well as the other President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports members, please visit http://www.fitness.gov.

EXHIBITING THE PRESIDENT'S CHALLENGE:

Club Industry Show
Chicago, IL
October 8-11
http://www.clubindustryshow.com

National Recreation and Park Association
St. Louis, MO
October 22-25
http://www.nrpa.org

FEEDBACK
We would love to hear from you. If you have any topics that you would like to see addressed in fitnessisfun or any comments on this list please let us know. You can provide them by emailing us at preschal@indiana.edu