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PCPFS News:
Federal Guidelines
Healthier Feds
Healthy Communities
Ad Council PSA’s
Winter Trails Day
Upcoming Events
PC Exhibit Schedule
American Heart Month
GM Grants for PALA
ASTPHND
News and Research:
Arithmetic with Exercise
President Urges Leaders
Fitness Questions
Fitness Column
Reminders:
PC Applications
Special Thanks
Feedback
Fitness is Fun!
February 2007
Greetings from the office of the President's Challenge Physical Activity and Fitness Awards Program! You have received the February 2007 issue of Fitness is Fun, the official e-mail distribution of the President's Challenge. These monthly e-mails will keep you updated on our programs, activities of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (PCPFS) and other current information pertaining to health and fitness.
Fitness Question of the Month for February:
February is American Heart Month, what are you doing to stay heart healthy?
Please respond via E-mail to The President's Challenge at
preschal@indiana.edu
We'll include the most insightful responses in the March issue of Fitness is Fun. Be sure to view the responses to January’s Fitness Question towards the bottom of the newsletter.
Federal Register Notice for Physical Activity Guidelines
A Federal Register Notice was published on January 22, 2007 announcing
the establishment of the Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee
and soliciting nominations for appointment to the Committee. The
Department of Health and Human Services seeks nominees with expertise
across a broad range of areas related to physical activity and health.
The full text of the Federal Register Notice is available at
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/pdf/E7-842.pdf and additional information related to the
physical activity guidelines initiative can be found at
http://www.health.gov/paguidelines/.
The Department of Health and Human Services encourages all interested
individuals to read the full announcement in the Federal Register and
consider submitting a nomination package. Self-nominations will be
accepted. Details of required nomination package contents are in the
Federal Register Notice. Nominations must be received by February 21,
2007.
Any questions can be answered by
Richard P. Troiano, Ph.D.,
CAPT, US Public Health Service, and, Coordinator, Physical Activity Guidelines
for Americans
voice: 240/453-8280
email:PA.guidelines@hhs.gov
The 2007 HealthierFeds Physical Activity Challenge is on the way!
The Office of Personnel Management is teaming with the President's Council on
Physical Fitness and Sports to host a HealthierFeds Physical Activity Challenge.
Participants will be federal agency staffs from the 3 branches of the Federal
Government, retirees and family members of the employees. A contestant must choose
between the Active Lifestyle program (30 minutes a day, 5 days a week of moderate
activity, or the Presidential Champion program (regular vigorous activity). The
challenge is a fun way for participants to start or continue physical activity that
fits their lifestyle, and helps their agency become a HeathierFeds champion! The
Challenge also encourages a spirit of "healthy" competition by tracking agencies
according to the levels of employee participation over the entire competition period.
The challenge begins January 22nd and continues through March 18th.
For more information about The Challenge visit
http://www.opm.gov/healthierfeds/ or email your questions to worklife@opm.gov.
The PCPFS and Building Healthy Communities
The PCPFS is integrally involved in a Building healthy Communities
initiative and is pleased to forward the following opportunity:
Request for Applications: Smart Growth Implementation Assistance
Opportunities for Technical Assistance for Communities Interested in
Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging.
Are you trying to encourage smart growth activities that will help
prepare for older adults in your community? Are you trying to encourage
specific smart growth techniques like transit-oriented development? Or
direct your state department of transportation investments to better
support smart growth? Are you looking to use smart growth to reach
economic development goals? Do you need help analyzing guidelines for
school investments that best fit your state or community? Do you need
to retrofit a commercial corridor? Or coordinate your community's smart
growth design with an active aging program?
The Development, Community, and Environment Division in U.S. EPA's
Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation is responding to this need
by issuing a request for applications for the Smart Growth
Implementation Assistance program. Through this program, a team of
multidisciplinary experts will provide free technical assistance to
communities, regions, or states that want to develop in ways that meet
environmental and other local or regional goals.
Communities, regions, and states around the country are interested in
building stronger neighborhoods, protecting their environmental
resources, enhancing public health, and planning for development, but
they may lack the tools, resources, or information to achieve these
goals. EPA can help applicants overcome these roadblocks by providing
evaluation tools and expert analysis.
EPA is soliciting applications from communities that want help with
either policy analysis or public participatory processes. Selected
communities will receive assistance in the form of a multi-day visit
from a team of experts organized by EPA and other national partners to
work with local leaders. Applications will be accepted until March 8,
2007
For more information and application materials, please go to
http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/sgia.htm.
HHS and the Ad Council PSA’s
On February 1st, HHS and the Ad Council unveiled a new series of public
service ads featuring the characters from DreamWorks' Shrek movies. The
PSAs are part of the Department's ongoing national campaign designed to
help combat childhood obesity. The new ads aim to encourage children 6
to 9 years old to engage in physical activity and to "Be a Player" for
one hour each day. The ads include television spots in English and
Spanish and outdoor ads and web banners that direct children and
families to visit www.HealthierUS.gov. Council members, Dot Richardson,
Vice Chair, and Denise Austin demonstrated various ways to incorporate
fitness and motor skills in a fun and engaging manner with over 45
visiting 2nd graders.
12th Annual Winter Trails Day at Estes Park
The Colorado Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness is encouraging people to get outside and exercise! On Saturday, February 17, Colorado Governor’s Council is hosting their 12th Annual Winter Trails Day at Estes Park in Estes Park, Colorado. The program is geared towards children, families, newcomers and outdoor enthusiasts.
Estes Park Winter Trails Program:
New this year at Estes Park is the chance for children and adults to participate in the President’s Challenge, a national program of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. Participants can earn a “Certificate of Achievement” by taking part in five learning stations - Snowshoe Basics, How to Dress for Winter Outdoor Activity, Nutrition and Hydration Tips, Basic Conditioning Exercises and Essentials for Winter Hiking and Camping. For more information visit, http://www.wintertrails.org/.
The 2007 President’s Challenge Spring Exhibit Schedule
Sacramento, CA; March 1-4, 2007
To learn more about the 2007 conference visit http://www.cahperd.org/.
Baltimore, MD; March 13-17, 2007
For more details visit http://www.aahperd.org/index.cfm.
Seattle, WA; March 29-April 2, 2007
NAESP's 2007 Convention is the ONLY national convention exclusively for elementary and middle-level educators. Excellent speakers, a diverse Exhibit Hall and a variety of workshops and concurrent sessions make NAESP's annual convention an event you won't want to miss! For more information visit, http://web.naesp.org/conv2007/general.htm.
American Heart Month
President George W. Bush proclaimed February as American Heart Month and paid tribute to the researchers, physicians, other public health education professionals as well as volunteers for their tireless efforts in preventing, treating, and researching heart disease. The observation also recognized the critical importance of developing tools that will increase survival rates from heart attacks and cardiac arrest.
General Mills Grants for PALA Awards
A unique partnership between the President's Challenge and General Mills Community Action is allowing eligible schools to receive free Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA) emblems and certificates for eligible students at their school. Through the General Mills Champions for Healthy Kids program, General Mills Community Action will provide Presidential recognition to eligible low socioeconomic status schools (up to 25,000 students) and the President's Challenge will list the school on our Web site,
http://www.presidentschallenge.com/ as a "General Mills Challenge School." In order to be eligible for the awards, students must meet the PALA requirements of being physically active 60 minutes per day, five days a week for six weeks. Also, if 35% of the student population earns the PALA award two or more times during the school year, the school will automatically earn the distinction of becoming a President's Challenge Active Lifestyle Model School. If you are a low socioeconomic status school, fill out the application at
http://www.presidentschallenge.org/advocates/gen_mills_sponsorform.pdf and send it in to the President's Challenge office.
ASTPHND releases Blueprint
The Association of State & Territorial Public Health Nutrition Directors
(ASTPHND) is pleased to announce the release of the Blueprint which is
now available at www.astphnd.org and www.movingtothefuture.org. The
Blueprint outlines practical, consumer-focused, state and local
strategies for improving eating and physical activity that will lead to
healthier lives for children, adults, and families. It provides
communities, consumers, organizations, agencies, and programs with
strategies and potential actions to address priority nutrition and
physical activity issues in the context of their own community resources
and needs. The Blueprint focuses on eating behaviors and physical
activity as cornerstones for improving health and well-being.
ASTPHND is working with HRSA Maternal and Child Health Bureau to
disseminate the Blueprint through state and local agencies. As part of
the dissemination plan, ASTPHND is offering Seed Grants of up to $2,500
to states interested in working with partners to adapt the Blueprint as
appropriate for use in their states. The Seed Grants include technical
assistance and states receiving seed grants will share their process and
outcomes through the ASTPHND websites and at the ASTPHND Annual Meetings
(travel support provided by ASTPHND).
The Seed Grant Application includes a brief proposal on how you plan to
disseminate and use the Blueprint in your state. Seed Grant
Applications are due March 2, 2007. For more information, please review
the Application packet avaialble on ASTPHND's website
http://www.astphnd.org/.
College Students Incorporate Arithmetic with Exercise
Health and Physical Education students from Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio help 3rd graders from Hawthorne Elementary put together a Family Activity Night. The activity night, Hawthorne Mustang Muscle Mania, includes 18-20 classrooms full of different physical activities kids can enjoy with their families. College students added an academic component to each physical activity. Activities include concepts such as number place value, using measuring devices to create healthy snacks, multiplication facts, counting money, and fractions.
After completing the math and movement activities the third graders work with their college buddies to plan the Family Activity Night for the other students of the school and their families. Leader Patti Wilson said, “The collaboration helps elementary students become leaders and feel a sense of accomplishment and contribution to increasing physical activity among their peers and the college students get the experience of planning such and event with a group so that they will be confident in trying to incorporate activity nights into their own school when they get that first teaching job.” Hawthorne Elementary and Otterbein College students said that they will both be taking away a lot from the experience.
Have you or someone else motivated a group of children or adults to lead a healthier life? Email us your story at Preschal@indiana.edu and it could be featured in next month’s newsletter!
President Urges Business Leaders to Launch Campaign to help prevent childhood obesity
President Bush is working with business leaders to encourage exercise and healthy food choices through advertising. The president and first lady met with executives from the food, beverage and entertainment industries to talk about improving healthy food offerings and encouraging physical fitness in their marketing and advertising campaigns.
More than 10 million school-age children in the United States _ about 18 percent -- are now considered overweight. The percentage of overweight children tripled among adolescents during the past 25 years, and nearly doubled for children ages 6 to 12. This increases their risk for adult heart disease and diabetes, lowers life expectancy and creates additional health care costs.
Following the meeting, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt was to work with Roger Enrico, chairman of DreamWorks Animation SKG, and Peggy Conlon, president and chief executive officer of The Advertising Council, to launch a public awareness campaign to help prevent childhood obesity. The campaign will include ads featuring characters from the Shrek animated movies encouraging children to "Be a Player" and get up and play for an hour a day. For more information visit
http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/diet.fitness/02/01/bush.childhood.obesity.ap/index.html.
Fitness Question Reponses for the Month of January:
More businesses are requiring their employees to participate in some kind of exercise regime. Why do you think participating in an exercise program should or should not be a work requirement?
I am a Customs and Border Protection Officer. I think it is very important to stay in shape. We are representing the U.S. to people who have never been here before, we’re the first American they see. I wish we had physical battery tests every six months. Many officers let themselves go and are of no use to themselves or the service should an emergency arise.
~Kevin
Participating in exercise at work should be a work requirement, because
it is a GREAT stress reliever and it gives you more energy!
~Roylene
It should be optional for employees to participate in a verifiable exercise program during work hours. If you allow 3 hours a week for exercise, the time would benefit both the employee and employer. Studies show that regular exercise increases productivity and creativity, and reduces sick leave hours.
~John Nicholson
A company that cares about employees should require exercise to be a part
of the employee’s life because of the proven benefits to the well-being of
the employee. If this lowers health costs so much the better.
~David
When work provides a place to work out, be it Pilates in a classroom or
an actual work out space, teachers feels rewarded for taking a moment
out of their lives for themselves
~Elizabeth
FITNESS COLUMN: INTRODUCING MICHELE BATZ, M.S.
Michele Batz, a physical education teacher in Beach Park, Illinois, is the author of “What is Holding You Back?”
You can do this! Every Mom in American needs to make time, for yourself! This is a must to ensure your health and sanity. You must take the time. Sit down with your loved ones to discuss this matter. It will not happen on it's own, guaranteed. You take control and let's get you going.
When it comes to running a household, who know who has the controls. YOU! Whether you believe it or not, we are the caretakers. I know this may sound way too 1950's but it's the truth and don't deny it. Women, on the average control the daily routine of running the household. There are always tasks that are never finished, because they must be done over and over again. That's right, we are discussing housecleaning, making lunches during school days, laundry, keeping things in order so that they don't get totally out of control.
But you have no control over when you want to workout. Why is that? It's because, you put yourself down further on your list. Instead of putting yourself at number 10, move yourself up to number 1. That is what you are to your family. You are number one. So, here's a little challenge for you...put yourself first for the next two weeks. Yes, this will require you to get up earlier, but you will grow to love this time. You decide how much earlier but there is a catch...during that time, you must exercise. You, once again, pick the exercise. It could be a bike ride, or a walk outside or in if you have a treadmill. It could be yoga. You pick what you want to do. What is your desire? Put yourself FIRST - that's right - for the next two weeks.
Here is the catch, you must communicate this with your family. You may receive a little bucking on this but tell them you must take care of yourself first in order to give them the best care.
Sometimes in a relationship with your spouse, things become unbalanced, especially if both of you are working. Just sit down with your spouse and explain that when you do this for your health, you will be around much longer to care for everyone in your family. And all of us want to be around a long time to see what life has to offer.
So, tell your spouse that you will be getting up a little earlier and this is your time. No one may interrupt and you can do with it as you please. This is a wonderful way to start your day. You may find this time each day brings the balance that you need in your life. Exercise not only whittles away your waist but it relieves stress, too. Plus, you may even find that this time of day your brain engages in new ideas, new attitudes and it may even carry you on to a new adventure that you may have been putting off due to having no time to exercise. You must put yourself first, start your exercising program today by getting out of bed just 30 minutes earlier. No more excuses! After sticking with your exercise program for a period of 6 weeks, you will be amazed at the energy you have to carry on your daily tasks. You will have time to pursue other interests!
You do have the time, you just need to take control and manage it with the cooperation of your family.
Moms of America, unite and declare your right to exercise! You can do this.
Remember to fill out State Champion, Model School, and Demonstration Center applications to ensure that your students are rewarded for their hard work! For more information, including application deadlines and guidelines, please visit http://www.presidentschallenge.org/educators/school_recognition.aspx.
We would like to extend a special thanks to all of the President's Challenge Advocates. Please visit the Advocates area on the http://www.presidentschallenge.org/ web site to see how companies, organizations and groups are making a difference with the President's Challenge.
We would like to hear from you. If you have any topics that you would like to see addressed in Fitness is Fun or any comments regarding this list, please let us know. You can provide them by emailing us at preschal@indiana.edu.
To view past issues of Fitness is Fun visit our website: http://www.presidentschallenge.org/. Enter the site by choosing the appropriate category, then click on "news/research".
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