Bring the health message home.

Fizika Group

Issue No. 3

In This Issue

October is National Family Health Month, when the American Academy of Family Physicians encourages families to take stock of their health. Also designated as Eat Better, Eat Together Month, October is a time to bring the health message home.

Two new Fizika Group partnerships (see Fizika On The Move) reinforce the importance of wellness at every age, and we are excited about linking our efforts with theirs. Commit 2B Fit, Inc., and Geo Motion Group, Inc., provide school, family and community based programs to encourage and support greater physical activity and healthier habits for all.

Fizika Group will also be on the road this fall, attending state physical education conferences across the nation to support and promote healthy lifestyles.

Martha Harris
President/Founder
Michael Cordier
Vice President/Founder

Wellness Tips: Making School More Healthy

Many children consume at least half of their daily calories at school, making good nutrition in school more important than ever.

Learn about the HealthierUS Schools Challenge Program's rigorous standards for schools' food quality, meal program participation, physical activity and nutrition education.

Find out how chefs across the country are answering Michelle Obama's call to "adopt a school"
and help educate students about
food and nutrition.

Explore how planting a garden or starting a health council can make your child's school a healthier place.

October is Eat Better, Eat Together Month

Shared family meals are more likely to be nutritious, and children who eat regularly with family are less likely to snack on unhealthy foods, according to the Nemours Foundation.

Washington State University has created a Toolkit to encourage healthy eating together as a family. While nutrition is important, youth say that what they like about family meals is having time to share, find out what each other is doing, and to laugh.

Join the Fizika Community!

Greetings!

Welcome to the Fizika Group newsletter. We invite you to become engaged in a community of teachers, administrators, health professionals and parents seeking new solutions for truly effective health and physical education programs, and tools for maintaining wellness at any age.

www.fizikagroup.com

Fizika On The Move

Fizika Group announces exciting new partnerships this month!

Commit 2B Fit® is a non-profit organization dedicated to affecting positive change in children and families by encouraging increased physical activity and better nutrition. Fizika Group joins Commit 2B Fit in its efforts to prevent childhood obesity and to promote healthy choices.

Geo Motion Group, Inc. offers movement-based products and curriculum that are developmentally appropriate, easy to use and cost effective to increase fitness and academic achievement. Geo Motion Group's aim to get children more physically active while learning positively aligns with the products and services offered by Fizika Group.

Safe Routes to School programs enable community leaders, schools and parents to improve safety and encourage more children to safely walk and bicycle to school. Fizika group has joined this nation-wide initiative.

Fizika On The Road

Fizika Group and our partners will take part in four upcoming AAHPERD conferences this fall.

AZAHPERD
"Celebrating a Decade of Strength through Teamwork and Partnerships"
Phoenix Convention Center, Arizona
October 21-22

KAHPERD
Wichita State University, Kansas
October 21-22

MAHPERD
Grand Rapids, Michigan
November 11-13

PSAHPERD
Seven Springs Mountain Resort, Pennsylvania
November 11-15

Partner Profile:
The Power of One

"We focus on strengthening children to beat obstacles to good health,
one decision at a time," said Dr. Robert Gillio as he described Student Health Force (SHF), a web-based program in which youth learn to manage their health, to live what they learn and to share it with others.

Gillio, CEO of InnerLink, Inc., in Lancaster, Pa., realized that while it's often not feasible to address gaps in a community's infrastructure, it is possible to create a culture of wellness through its youth.

A Student Health Force participant in Chicago focuses on "Learn It!"

With flagship programs in New Orleans, Chicago and throughout Pennsylvania, Student Health Force aims to increase access to information and to instill lifelong healthy habits. The effort is timely and critical; with 33% of children ages 6-19 now obese, American youth face a daunting health crisis. Many will suffer health problems that inhibit their ability to learn and to become fully functioning adults.

Participants in Student Health Force set goals within a wellness plan, and track their progress against the plan. Striving to "Learn it! Live it! Share it!" students focus on four key themes of fitness, nutrition, tobacco prevention and 21st century skills such as teamwork, listening and negotiation.

"I guarantee if we can start from just a group of students we can end with a [whole] community, your community, my community, our communities."
Brianna Hill, Chicago SHF intern, 2009

Learn more about how Student Health Force is changing communities, one student at a time. Also explore other Smart Solutions for a Healthy Community from InnerLink.