IN THIS ISSUE

IAPD and the American Heart Association building a

healthier generation

by Kristen Knobloch

Childhood obesity is one of our nation's leading health threats. By now, you probably know the numbers by heart: more than 12.5 million kids overweight, with 13 million at risk for being overweight. The obesity epidemic is taking its toll, as more and more kids are developing conditions and diseases that would normally be associated with adults, like high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol and type 2 diabetes. If obesity among kids continues to increase, many believe this current generation of young people will become the first in American history to live shorter lives than their parents.

The Illinois Association of Parks Districs has joined forces with the American Heart Association and its Alliance for a Healthier Generation to help tackle the problem. (The Alliance for a Healthier Generation is a joint initiative between the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation.) As part of its outreach efforts, the Alliance partnered with Nickelodeon to create the "Let's Just Play Go Healthy Challenge," a television, online and grassroots movement designed to get kids to eat healthier and to exercise and play more.

27 www.ILparks.org July/August 2007

Let's Just Play

The 2007 Let's Just Play Go Healthy Challenge kicked off on April 29 with a Nickelodeon television special introducing two real-life kids who are the Go Healthy Challengers. The reality show looks deep into the lives of these two 'tween role models as they follow the six monthly wellness themes. It focuses on the ups and downs of achieving their health goals.

The Let's Just Play Go Healthy Challenge wellness themes were developed by a panel of leading kids' health experts and include:

Self-assessment and goal setting

Nutrition and exercise basics and accessing information to achieve goals

Moderation - finding balance in diet and exercise

Time management - fitting exercise and healthy eating into a daily schedule

Making the most of home and community

Celebrating success

Kids across the country are invited to join the Let's Just Play Go Healthy Challenge and make a personal pledge to "go healthy" - just like the role models on the show.

Ideas You Can Use

The six Let's Just Play Go Healthy Challenge wellness themes can be used to empower young people at your agencies to make the pledge to "go healthy." You can help kids set and reach appropriate health goals and track their progress and you can encourage your participants to recruit their peers to join in the challenge.

Here are some simple ideas from www.igohugo.org - the new kid-friendly Web site from the Alliance for a Healthier Generation.

Encourage kids to use the Go Healthy calendar tool at www.igohugo.org to help them monitor their daily health habits and track how they are spending their time.

Ask Kids to write a letter to the editor of their local community paper or school paper to motivate others to take the Go Healthy Challenge.

Start a Go Healthy Challenge group at your agency, where kids collectively try to achieve a fun health goal, such as taking enough steps together to walk across America.

Organize a Go Healthy Challenge Celebration on the Worldwide Day of Play, September 29, 2007.

visit www.igohugo.org and www.healthiergeneration.org for more programming ideas and information on the Alliance for a Healthier Generation.

Kristen Knobloch is the marketing director for the Greater Midwest Affiliate of the American Heart Association in Chicago.

28 Illinois Parks & Recreation www.ILipra.org

WORLDWIDE DAY OF PLAY

Make Your Agency a Worldwide Day of Play Site

Did you know that one out of every four children fails to participate in any free-time physical activity? In fact, a typical American youth spends approximately four to five hours a day watching TV, using the computer or playing video games.

The Worldwide Day of Play is designed to pull these young people away from the simulated action they find on the screen and get them really moving out in the real world. The Worldwide Day of Play celebrates the Go Healthy Challenge by encouraging kids to go outside and play on September 29.

To host a Worldwide Day of Play event at your agency, register at www.ILparks.org.

Registration is free and is open through August 31, 2007. You'll receive guidelines and materials that build upon the "Healthy Playbook 4 KIDS" Toolkit distributed by IAPD and the American Heart Association at the January's Soaring to New Heights Conference.

29 www.ILparks.org July/August 2007