Childobesity180 Announces Launch Of Nationwide Competition For Innovation In Physical Activity In Support Of Let’s Move!
Washington, D.C. – Feb. 7, 2012 – ChildObesity180 today started up a newly created program known the Active Schools Acceleration Project (ASAP), with the aim to continue taking efforts toward changing the childhood obesity tendency. Due to their strong maintenance for Let’s Move!, her program to cope with the childhood obesity tendency within a generation, First Lady Michelle Obama fostered taking part in the contest mailing a new video message.
ASAP, in a collaboration with The Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), is carrying out a nationwide contest to define and award the most constructive, initiative, and flective school-funded patterns and technological innovations that advance physical activity for children. The participant will award the prize of $500,000, together with personal awards of up to $100,000. Additionally to money awards, winners will promote to take part in sponsored pilot studies devoted to expanding both reach and impact.
ASAP’s national educational campaign is on the way to attract more applicants from schools, teachers, technology developers, entrepreneurs – any person may participate who has the aim to make students active and healthy. The PHA is helpful to advance the competition and foster participation through their overall, multi-sector social networks.
“We really believe there’s so much good work done to make our kids wake up and move much daily,” said First Lady Michelle Obama. “So we have a desire to search for the most appropriate school programs and technique ideas that magnify physical loadings for children – and then assist them to achieve the increase in the number of children taking part throughout America.”
As a telling an example of the personal sphere improving the play of a major role fighting against childhood obesity, sponsored by the ASAP innovation contest has been offered by nation’s leading health plans. According to Owen John, President, and CEO of Cigna Corporation and a Charter Member of ChildObesity180, “As health chain leaders, it is our duty to assist to change the tendency of frequent episodes of childhood obesity so children from future generations can live a healthier life. To achieve the main aim, very large number of companies have summoned together to sustain this program.”
The competition is subdivided into two main categories: “School Programs” and “Technology Innovation.”
Teachers, schools, or entire districts are fostered to create their own in-school physical loadings patterns to take part in the competition known as “School Programs”. This may be comprised any education plan, loadings, environmental modification, meetings, or another initiative that advances high-quality school-time loadings of the physical origin and is currently being utilized with their students.
The leaders in the “Technology Innovation” subtype will exhibit how their existing or emerging technology can be applied to motivate children to move more active. Such a program may be composed from devices, tracking and measurement ideas, software applications, innovative ground-breaking items of social media, gaming, smartphones, and more.
“Many schools have been successful in finding ways to integrate physical loading into the daily life of students, assisting them to arrange long-lasting healthy habits,” said Ruby Kennedy, PhD, Vice-Chair and Director of ChildObesity180, Associate Professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, and a main researcher in the prevention sphere of childhood obesity. “This contest is devoted to recognizing those champions and defining capabilities to deliver their ground-breaking decisions to scale.”
Additionally to school-based pattern, ASAP has a desire to get to know more about innovative applicants. “TVs and computers can sometimes be a hindrance to physical activity,” said the First Lady, “but we also know we can take efforts to promote this technology to make children more active”
Alexander Robson, Chair of ChildObesity180, adds, “We are delighted to see such her enthusiasm and support when we try to start up this consent and the 13 leading health plans are worked out to advance our initiative. Altogether, we will do our best to determine and point out patterns with a great potential to enhance high-quality of physical activity in schools nationwide and makes us closer to our main aim to arrest the childhood obesity epidemic.”