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* Find a My Gym for kids near your home now!
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Combining children's fitness activities with their balanced diets is the cause of a nationally recognized food manufacturer. Teaming up with 50 organizations that are community based throughout the United States, the manufacturer has put its children's fitness money where its mouth is, giving grants of $500,000. These children's fitness grants sponsor innovative program to give children the tools for healthy, active and balanced lives. The federal government as well as the American Dietetic Association has also joined in the partnership of this cereal manufacturer, investing over $8 million in the last three years.
Children's fitness and exercise programs as well as youth nutritional guidance have been the focus, serving more than 150,000 children so far, in all parts of the country. In 2006 each of the 50 group recipients, such as schools, non-profit associations or governments will get $10,000 grants to keep their current children's exercise, fitness or nutrition programs running, or to start new programs with children's exercise or fitness in mind. These children's programs assist all races, ethnic groups, economic groups and geographic locations.
One California children's fitness program, for example, has after school classes for children about how to eat well-balanced meals and what exercises are important. Primarily poverty level spanish speaking elementary age children, these are kids who can't usually afford to take part in organized sports and don't have a lot of nutritional guidance at home.
In Arkansas, a Head Start Program was designed in response to their finding that 38 percent of the children in the state are overweight. The program teaches preschool children and their parents the value of fruit and vegetable to a healthy, low calorie diet, encourages them to drink water, to control their food portions, to increase children's exercise and physical activity and to choose healthier snacks.
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