ACE Supports Clinton's Campaign's Initiative to Encourage Healthy Lifestyles for America's Youth

Main Category: Sports Medicine / Fitness
Article Date: 11 May 2005 - 9:00 PDT

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In an effort to curb the recent childhood obesity epidemic plaguing our nation, former President Bill Clinton has joined forces with the American Heart Association (AHA) and Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-Ark) to guide America's youth toward better dietary and lifestyle choices. The American Council on Exercise (ACE), America's nonprofit fitness authority, supports this initiative to help draw heightened awareness to the critical issue of childhood obesity and inactivity.

"Too many children today are at risk of developing life-threatening chronic diseases as a result of inactivity and poor nutrition," said Ken Germano, president of ACE. "Motivated by his own recent health complications, President Clinton is encouraging children to proactively take control of their own health before it's too late."

The American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation will take their message directly to the food and restaurant industry, schools and community groups as well as the media in an effort to reverse our nation's disturbing childhood obesity trend.

"According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), obesity is still one of the nation's leading causes of death," said Germano. "Although there have been mixed reports regarding the precise number of illnesses and deaths that can be linked to obesity, CDC findings still hold true - obesity remains a major health problem and economic burden that is quite preventable with attention to proper diet and exercise."

For the past 15 years, ACE has helped educate and motivate children to get active through its youth outreach program Operation FitKids (OFK). OFK provides high quality educational materials and top-notch professional training to educators, fitness professionals, health professionals and concerned parents.

Recently, ACE introduced new youth fitness curriculum designed for third through fifth grade teachers looking to integrate health, fitness and nutrition activities into the classroom setting. The curriculum can be downloaded free from the ACE Web site http://www.acefitness.org.

About ACE

The American Council on Exercise (ACE), America's Authority on Fitness, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the benefits of physical activity and protecting consumers against unsafe and ineffective fitness products and instruction. As the nation's "workout watchdog," ACE sponsors university-based exercise science research and testing that targets fitness products and trends. ACE sets standards for fitness professionals and is the world's largest nonprofit fitness certifying organization. For more information on ACE and its programs, call (800) 825-3636 or log onto the ACE Web site at http://www.acefitness.org.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Kristie Spalding
American Council on Exercise
800-546-7470
kristie.spalding@acefitness.org
http://www.acefitness.org

Cassie Piercey
American Council on Exercise
858-576-6533
cassie.piercey@acefitness.org

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