Fitness is Fun!
September 2007

Trust for America's Health Report Finds that Obesity Continues to Rise
A report issued on Monday by the public health advocacy group Trust for America's Health (TFAH) found that adult obesity rates rose in 31 states last year, the Associated Press reports. The report, F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are Failing in America, 2007, was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and is TFAH's fourth annual examination of state-by-state obesity data. To read the report please visit: http://www.healthyamericans.org/reports/obesity2007/Obesity2007Report.pdf

FREE NEW MIDDLE SCHOOL CURRICULUM SUPPLEMENT FROM NIH: "THE SCIENCE OF HEALTHY BEHAVIORS"
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), part of the Department of Health and Human Services, is releasing "The Science of Healthy Behaviors", the newest in a popular series of curriculum supplements available for free to teachers (grades K-12) who request them. "The Science of Healthy Behaviors", for use by middle school teachers, introduces students to the scientific study of behavior and helps them explore how behavioral and social factors influence health. To learn more visit:
http://science.education.nih.gov/customers.nsf/MSHealthy.htm

YMCAs Expand Programs to Respond to Nation's Growing Health Crisis
Amidst the nation's unprecedented health crisis, YMCAs across the country, long known for building holistic health in spirit, mind and body, have dramatically increased programs to address weight gain and obesity among youth and adults, according to statistics released today by YMCA of the USA, the national resource office for the nation's 2,663 YMCAs. Annual data for 2006 reveals an increase of 50 percent since 2005, to 720, in the number of YMCAs that offer programs addressing child obesity, and a 70 percent increase in YMCAs that provide adult obesity programming, to 1,750. YMCAs with nutrition programs are up almost 30 percent, to 700, over the same two-year period, while Ys offering weight management programs -- a combination of nutrition, physical activity and family education/involvement -- jumped 165 percent, to 566. Programs extend beyond the walls of YMCAs into to schools, community centers and businesses. In fact, YMCAs involved in community health and well- being coalitions increased 30 percent, to 723, in 2006. To read more visit:
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070822/aqw903.html?.v=2

New Grant Seeks Ideas for How Video & Computer Games Can Improve Health and Health Care
Deadline for Applications: September 26, 2007
Changemakers, in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is seeking creative solutions that merge computer and video games with health and health care. An expert panel of judges will select approximately twelve finalists. The Changemakers global online community then will vote for three winners, each of whom will receive a $5,000 cash prize from Changemakers. All finalists will win the opportunity to attend the "Why Games Matter" Change Summit at the May, 2008 Games for Health conference in Baltimore, MD, the premier event for game developers, researchers, funders, and other leaders in this growing field. To learn more visit:
http://www.changemakers.net/en-us/competition/healthgames

School-Based Interventions to Prevent Obesity
Deadline for Applications: October 16 (recurring program with 3 grant cycles)
This Funding Opportunity Announcement encourages the formation of partnerships between academic institutions and school systems in order to develop and implement controlled, school-based intervention strategies designed to reduce the prevalence of obesity in childhood. This initiative also encourages evaluative comparisons of different intervention strategies, as well as the use of methods to detect synergistic interactions between different types of interventions. To read more visit:
http://www.egrants.net/Public/index.cfm?ID=9017&UserID=sro03

Building a Bicycle Friendly America
More and more neighborhoods are supporting a bicycle friendly community by paving bike paths, being more rider conscious, and encouraging riders to wear the proper protective equipment. The bicycle friendly website gives you a chance to find out which communities are supporting this alternate form of transportation. It also provides an application which rates your community based on safety information, environment quality, and fitness advocacy. Your application is then viewed and your neighborhood receives a rating of platinum, gold, silver, or bronze, depending on how well your community scores. You can view how your community ranks, fill out an application, read the benefits of biking, and much more at
http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/communities/

Back to School Health and Fitness
Are you a teacher looking for ways to incorporate fitness in the classroom? If so, check out http://www.pbs.org/teachers/healthfitness/ for some new and fresh ideas that will start the year off on a healthy note. The website allows you to choose a grade range and a specific ãfitness lessonä that suits the kidâs interests. It also provides several benefits of exercising, ways to get and stay fit, and other classroom suggestions. Individual journals can be printed out for kids to write down any physical activities they did for a particular week. The website also has a ãWell Being Surveyä that can be printed and filled out by the kids to evaluate their overall fitness profile and make them aware of any health threats.

The Walking School Bus
In addition to participating in The International Walk to School Day, several parents are teaming up to provide a walking school bus for their children. It is a great way for kids and parents to interact with each other, get exercise, and give their gas tank a break. The website includes a Walking School Resource package which includes success stories, pre-mapped pathways to several schools, and other helpful resources. For more information, visit http://www.saferoutetoschool.ca/index.php?page=walkingschoolbus providing more ways for parents and children to stay fit.

Study finds kids are healthier when taught how to eat better
A Finnish study finds teaching children about healthy diets helps improve their blood cholesterol levels. The study included 540 children and their families who received dietary counseling about diets low in unhealthy saturated fats. Another group of 522 children did not receive dietary counseling. The researchers reported, by age 14, the children in the counseling groups has a small but statistically significant lower median cholesterol level.

The goal of the counseling was not to reduce the total number of fat calories consumed by the children but to shift from saturated to unsaturated fats in order to reduce cholesterol intake. The findings could help in efforts to promote healthier eating and other lifestyles changes in order to reduce heart attacks and strokes. The studyâs lead author Dr. Harri Niinikoski explained even a small decrease in serum cholesterol concentrations in a large population can have a major influence on coronary heart disease. For more information visit http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20070815/hl_hsn/guidingkidstobetterdietsboostshealth;_ylt=Ah1VsPyFW.ieeGzPfpVhOt3VJRIF

	GET FIT AND HAVING FUN AROUND AMERICA WITH FITNESS MOM®!
	Below are excerpts from Julie E. Sweet’s book, "365 Activities for Fitness, Food, and Fun for the Whole Family.” These are activities you and your family can do together as part of an active lifestyle.

CHEERLEADING POM-POMS IN COLORADO
Materials
4 or 5 clean plastic grocery bags
Pair of scissors
1 roll strong cloth tape

Rah! Rah! For recycling a few of those bags you can't bear throwing away! Cut plastic grocery bags into one-inch strips. Wrap tape around the bottom six inches of the pom-poms. Use as many bags as you want - the more strips you use the fluffier the pom-poms will be. Next crinkle the plastic strips in your hands to give a full, not droopy, effect. Make up some cheers! Here are some you can teach your future cheerleaders.

~G-O-GO (Name of Team) GO FOR IT!
~Push 'em back, Move 'em back, way back!
~Fight, Fight, Fight, (Name of Team) UNITE!

TELEPHONE POLO in TEXAS
Here is a fun way to build the whole family's endurance. Count the telephone poles as you pass them on your walk. On Day One of your family walk, you may only be able to pass five poles. Keep track. On the second day, try to pass six poles. Try to add a pole a day. Once you are up to ten poles, have the family enjoy a reward together such as a day at the zoo or kayak rental at the local park. Make sure the kids can invite their friends for this one - it is too much fun not to be shared.

ROAD TRIP in RHODE ISLAND
Remember the road trips of your youth - packed into the back of a station wagon, car sick and bored? Your kids can have great stops to look forward to other than locating the next fast food place, by doing a bit of advanced planning. Pack jump ropes, razor scooters, inline skates (include safety pads and helmets), frisbee, and soccer ball - as the last items into the car. (This way they will be easily accessible.) At every rest stop, take ten minutes to let the kids (and adults) stretch their legs, let off some steam, and burn off a few calories. Find a safe part of the rest stop, away from traffic, and skate, scoot, and jump. Throw a frisbee or play a few minutes of soccer. Your trip might take an extra half- hour, but making your rest stop into an exercise stop is time well spent.

Just because you are strapped safely in a seat belt doesn't mean you can't get some movement in. Throw a cassette into the tape deck and play, "Knees up Mother Brown" for "marching-in-seat" exercise. Do some simple hand and feet motions to, "If Your Happy and You Know it Clap Your Hand/Stomp Your Feet, Shake Your Head...etc." You can even pull off a toned down version of the "Hokey-Pokey" when the kids get antsy.

PUT MORE MILEAGE ON YOUR SNEAKERS THAN YOUR CAR IN SOUTH CAROLINA
Remember the good ol' days when everyone used to walk to school. Unfortunately, now only ten percent of children walk to school. They miss out on skipping over sidewalk cracks, jumping in piles of leaves, and spying into their neighbor's windows. Most importantly, walking to school provides great exercise, a dose of fresh air, and a chance for both children and parents to spend time together and for parents to meet and converse with other parents/caregivers. "Nearly nine out of ten parents who walk their children to school see it as an ideal way to meet new people," according to the organizers of the walk to school campaigns. Parents can use this as an opportunity to teach street-crossing safety, they can form "walking-pools", taking turns walking each other's children to school when necessary, and best of all you start the day spending time with your children. Oh yes, there is an exercise element in there, too!


HELPING OUT IN HAWAII!
"Please can I do my chores...please???" Now that's the type of whining we want to hear!

One of the best ways to burn calories is to increase your daily activity level - do what you have to do anyways (chores and yard work) with a little more umph! Have your kids try making their beds using just one hand. Use the right hand to straighten the sheets and then switch to the left to even out the covers. Jump and fluff! "Can you fluff your pillows jumping up and down while holding the pillow behind your back?" Next, give each child a small pile of laundered clothes to put away in their respective drawers. Give Johnny all his socks and see how quickly he can race up the stairs and put them away. Next give Sandy all her T-shirts - same mission - go!!! Give Susie her Jammies and Brian his shorts - scoot! Kids love to race and be challenged. All this heart-pounding activity is great for building cardiovascular strength and burning calories, to say nothing of having the laundry put away pronto. Now it is time to "sweep the kitchen backwards" - step backwards as you pull the dirt into a pile from one end of the room to the other (usually we sweep working our way forwards). Heads-up! You do have to watch where you are going!

Place two dry-mop heads on feet, secured with string, and have the kids skate around wood and vinyl floors until they shine "like the Chrysler building". If safety allows, have the kids walk the dog instead of putting poor Fido out on the line. For Mom and Dad - lead by example! Vacuuming, sweeping and washing the kitchen floor burn calories and can give you a good workout-do it twice a week instead of once. Use a hand mower not a riding mower if you have a manageable-size yard. Mow, rake, shovel - all those push-pull activities are great health builders. Hang your clothes out to dry (great for the arms, shoulders and upper back). Buy a telephone head set so you can clean and "putz" while you are talking on the phone. Put on upbeat music during family chore time - let the kids make the choice!

Copyright 2007 Julia E. Sweet

For more fun activities visit www.fitnessmom.com
E-mail Julia Sweet fitnessmom@comcast.net