Family Fitness Week

The Family Fitness Challenge
sponsored by the National Association for Sport & Physical Education

Thank you to all the families that participated in the Family Fitness Challenge. We had a wonderful response and hope you enjoyed the time being active together. Hopefully, all the participating families will continue being active together and enjoy the time spent.

We would love your comments or suggestions in regards to the challenge for next year. Down below is a link to e-mail Mr. Braglia your comments about the challenge.

In the chart below, you will see what percentage of the 122 families completed each task:

Eat together at the table 94%	Go for a 20 minute walk together 76%	Eat fruit with lunch for one day 90%	Play catch together 98%
Complete 100 jumping jacks as a family 81%	Create a fitness obstacle course 62%	Play music and dance while doing chores 76%	Practice juggling tissues or rolled up socks 81%
Complete 3 different stretches before leaving for school or work 84%	Do sit-ups during the commercials of your family's favorite TV show 75%	Read the newspaper or a magazine while in a push-up position 67%	Eliminate desserts and sweets for one day 67%
Make up a family dance with at least 3 different moves 63%	Play an active game outside 87%	Try a new vegetable for lunch or dinner 80%	Jump rope while singing a song 64%

It is important to understand why as a physical education department we are implementing a program such as this. We feel that families that are together and active will encourage and inspire each to stay fit and healthy. We are also aware of the negative trends that have been building in our society. The facts are:

Overweight Among Youth

The percentage of young people who are overweight has more than tripled since 1980. Among children and teens age 6 to 19 years, 16 percent (over 9 million young people) are overweight.
About 10 percent of children age 2 to 5 are overweight.
Approximately 60 percent of obese children age 5 to 10 years have at least one cardiovascular disease risk factor, such as elevated total cholesterol, triglycerides, insulin, or blood pressure and 25 percent have two or more risk factors.
Children and adolescents who are overweight by age 8 are 80 percent more likely to become overweight or obese adults.

Participation in Physical Activity by Young People

More than a third of young people in grades 9 to 12 do not regularly engage in vigorous physical activity.
One-third of young people in grades 9 to 12 get an insufficient amount of moderate to vigorous physical activity.
Over 11 percent of high school students get no moderate to vigorous physical activity.
Participation in physical activity declines as children get older. Sixty-nine percent of ninth graders participate in vigorous physical activity on a regular basis, while only 55 percent of 12th graders participate in the same level of activity.

If our children start early, we might be able to turn these trends around.
Good luck and enjoy the time spent as a family being active and together.

Please send us your comments by clicking here.

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