Fitness is Fun!
April 2004

McDonalds Go Active!
As part of McDonald's 2004 Balanced Lifestyles Platform, McDonald's has launched several new campaigns; including the first ever "Go Active! Adult Happy Meal", there are new happy meal choices, and new McDonald's menu choice ordering options. McDonalds will also launch "McDonald's Go Active! American Challenge," with Bob Greene. Greene will challenge others to take steps towards more active lives as he will walk and bike across America for 36 consecutive days. During this campaign there will be an estimated 10 to 15 million Stepometers and walking/fitness booklets distributed to Americans across the country. For more information regarding this campaign please visit: http://www.mcdonalds.com/usa/news/current/conpr_04152004.html.

Got Milk? 3 X 3 Soccer Shootout
The got milk? 3v3 Soccer Shootout consists of 65 soccer events occurring from Los Angeles to New York City. The Soccer Shootout is a weekend soccer festival open to players of all ages and skill levels. The shootout attendees can participate in activities from The President's Challenge Physical Fitness Test, including the shuttle run, curl-ups, and pull-ups. For information regarding the festival please visit: http://www.whymilk.com/wh_soccer.htm.

Bally's Fitness Runs in Families
Bally Total Fitness is proud to partner with The President's Challenge to help all Americans get healthy and fit and achieve their health and fitness objectives. As part of their effort, each of Bally's health clubs across the country will serve as a 'President's Challenge Center of Excellence.' Bally's will use its unsurpassed experience and its 23,000 employees to further educate and empower Americans to incorporate proper health and fitness into their lives and earn recognition from The President's Challenge awards program in the process. For more information about Bally's development of the President's Challenge Center of Excellence program, please contact:

Joe Cohen
Account Supervisor
The MWW Group, on behalf of Bally Total Fitness
(201) 964-2443
jcohen@mww.com.

Burger King's School Sponsorship
Burger King Corporation has teamed up with The President's Challenge to promote physical activity. They are incorporating the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award and the Physical Fitness Award Programs in hundreds of schools across the United States. Many schools will have the opportunity to participate in The President's Challenge Program with the assistance of sponsorship from the Burger King Corporation. To learn more about this program visit: http://www.burgerking.com/presidentschallenge/index.aspx.

General Mills 2nd Annual Minneapolis School Challenge Sponsorship
In May 2003 General Mills awarded 50 grants of up to $10,000 each to community-based groups that developed unique and creative ways to help youth become more physically active with a balanced diet. Another 50 grants will be awarded in late April. To learn more about this grant opportunity or view a list of previous winners visit: http://www.generalmills.com/corporate/commitment/community/#Nutrition.

2nd National Steps to a HealthierUS Summit Approaching
The 2nd National Steps to a HealthierUS Summit will take place on April 29-30, 2004 at the Baltimore Waterfront Marriott Hotel, in Baltimore, Maryland. Join Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson, along with special guests, educators, business and community leaders, and policymakers for an in-depth look at our nation's health. For more information and to register for this event, please visit: http://www.healthierUS.gov/steps/summit.html. Also, community fact sheets and brochures are available on-line. Steps fact sheets describing each of the 12 funded community action plans and an overview brochure are now available at http://www.healthierUS.gov/steps/grantees.html.

Project ACES
Project ACES (All Children Exercising Simultaneously) is less than a month away! This year's event will take place on Wednesday May 5th 2004. If you are interested in becoming an ACES state coordinator visit: http://www.projectaces.com and click on the State Coordinator link. Check out what other states are doing for this year's event.

• Michigan: http://www.michiganfitness.org
• Maine: http://www.mainephysicalactivity.org
• Indiana: http://indiana-ahperd.org/aceshome.htm

Newly Revised National Standards For Physical Education Released
The National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) recently released a newly revised second edition of Moving into the Future: National Standards for Physical Education. Each of six standards provide a description of what students should know and be able to do at the end of each grade level grouping, and sample performance outcomes to measure student behavior. To order a copy of these standards or for additional information about NASPE, visit: http://www.naspeinfo.org.

Congressional Fitness Caucus and PCPFS Fitness Celebration on the Mall

Future Meeting: Action on Obesity Summit
The Mayo Clinic has organized the Action on Obesity Summit to identify a strategic and multi-disciplinary solution to obesity. Representatives from The President's Challenge will participate in this summit on Friday May 21st, 2004 in Rochester, MN.

Overweight Kids Lag in Early School Years
An overweight child's health and self-esteem suffers, but a new RAND study reveals that their schoolwork also suffers. Ashlesha Datar, PhD, and colleagues examined data from the U.S. Department of Education and found that overweight children scored significantly lower on verbal and math skills. These children also lagged behind their peers by the end of first grade.

An Atlanta-based child and family psychologist, Nancy Cahir, PhD views childhood obesity as a sign of parental neglect, often combined with depression, family problems, and parents who are not listening to their children. Datar exhibits the same view stating, "The overweight kids tend to come from poorer families with not-so-educated mothers." She believes focusing on the child's home environment will be more beneficial than focusing on their weight. Datar and colleagues reported their findings in the January issue of Obesity Research. This article can be view in its entirety at http://content.health.msn.com/content/article/81/96918.htm.

New Report Finds Girls Less Active Than Boys
The Harvard Prevention Research Center on Nutrition and Physical and Physical Activity and the National Women's Law Center have released a report, which concludes that girls consistently engage in less physical activity than boys. Several recommendations for improving gender equity and examination of the gender differences in physical activity, among Massachusetts high school students are contained in "Keeping Score: Girls participation in High School Athletics in Massachusetts". Visit http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/press/releases/sports/keepingscorereport.pdf to review the full report.

Survey Results Available
Results of over 1,000 responses to the Center for Health and Health Care in Schools' obesity survey are now available. The survey results describe how their schools have responded to the obesity epidemic. There is also information regarding obesity concern in school communities, school actions undertaken to increase physical activity and to improve nutrition, the top five barriers to change, and the time allocated to prevention work. The results can be read at http://www.healthinschools.org/sh/obesresults.asp.