School kicks off fitness programInside NoVA, Manassas Journal Messenger and Potomac News, November 14, 2006 AMANDA STEWART Hundreds of Stonewall Middle School sixth-graders put down their pencils
Monday afternoon and strapped on their pedometers. The program, developed by Coca-Cola, the President's Council for Physical Fitness, the School Nutrition Association and the National Association for Sports & Physical Education, is designed to promote physical fitness and healthy eating habits among fourth- through eighth-graders, an age group plagued by high childhood obesity rates in recent years. Monday, the sixth-graders became the first Prince William County students to participate in the program, during a pep rally of sorts, where they learned about healthy eating, met some local celebrities and got to try out some physical activities in a hip hop dancing workout. Washington Mystics player Alana Beard and former Washington Wizards player Gheorghe Muresan talked to the students about fitness and answered their questions. Registered dietitian Robyn Flipse spoke about nutrition and the food pyramid. "I learned a lot. I've never known exactly how much fruit and vegetables and things I was supposed to eat before," Daniella Aron-Schiavone, 11, said after the presentation. In the Live It! program, students are challenged to walk 10,000 steps, or five miles, a day, and are given a "stepometer" to help track their progress. Students are also given nutrition and activity cards to record their healthy choices in food and physical activities. "This whole program revolves around helping you create a lifestyle that promotes good health and good fitness," Flipse said. "A lifestyle is not a diet, and it's not an exercise routine. It's the way you live your life." Parwahz Dhaliwal, 11, said he planned to get his steps in by playing basketball. "I really run a lot and I skate a lot, so I don't think it will be hard to do it," said Troy Washington, 12. Flipse told the students that getting 10,000 steps in each day doesn't mean they will have to go on long walks or walk five miles all at once. While wearing their pedometers, students may be able to get in a few miles just walking around school, she said. She also suggested students turn normally sedentary activities such as talking on the phone or watching TV into active ones by walking in place. In the gym, Dianne Hon and Corry Matthews, founders of Fit & Healthy Schools Inc. led the students in a hip-hop dancing routine, while DJ Flexx from WPGC played music. "It was really awesome and fun and cool," Suzanne Jacques, 11, said between deep breaths after finishing the workout. "It was fun to dance around and be goofy with your friends while exercising." Marley Sunday, 11, said she already had some experience with the dance moves. She takes hip-hop dancing classes. "It was kind of nice to do something I already knew. I'm definitely going to keep doing it and keep exercising," she said. Live It! is an expansion of the Coca-Cola Company's Step With It program, through which the company estimates it has distributed more than three million pedometers to students since 2002. This year an estimated 18,000 Prince William County students will participate in the program, company officials said. For more information about the Live It! program, visit liveitprogram.com. |