Dear Educator:
The number of overweight children in the United States is alarming. Today nine million children age 6 -19 are overweight. Children who are overweight are more likely to become overweight adults, putting them at risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and some types of cancer. Unfortunately, some of these risks are beginning to appear in children today. For example, type 2 diabetes, once considered an adult disease, has increased dramatically in children.
Get in the Game for Good Health!, a free health education program made possible by the California Olive Committee -an industry committed to healthy eating -is designed to help students in grades 4-6 develop healthy lifestyles. Overweight in children is generally caused by a lack of physical activity and unhealthy eating habits. Today many children and adults in the United States lead inactive lifestyles, sitting at desks all day and pursuing sedentary activities such as watching TV and playing video games in their free time. In addition, they regularly eat fast foods that tend to be high in calories and fat.
The fun, interactive worksheets in Get in the Game for Good Health! encourage students to assess their own lifestyles, learn about healthy eating habits, create innovative ways to increase their activity levels and commit to following a healthy lifestyle. Also included is a reproducible letter to photocopy and send home to parents, thus extending the program's important message to the family.
We encourage you to share this program with your colleagues. Although the materials are copyrighted, you have permission to make as many copies as are needed for educational purposes.
At LearningWorks, we are constantly working to fulfill the needs to both students and educators. Your feedback is helpful to us in this effort, so please take a moment to fillout the response card.
Sincerely,
Dr. Dominic Kinsley
Editor in Chief
