Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation Empowering Educators to Fight Childhood Obesity with New Curriculum From Discovery Education

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:
Stephen Wakefield, Discovery Education
240-662-2893
[email protected]

Doug Badger, Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation
503-260-3235
[email protected]

—Healthy Playground Makeover Sweepstakes awarding more than $100,000 in prizes also opens for entries—

Silver Spring, Md. (September 21, 2010) – Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, the CEO-led organization driving a multi-year effort designed to help reduce obesity – especially childhood obesity – by 2015, today announced the launch of a new online curriculum powered by Discovery Education. Promoting ways to help young people achieve a healthy weight through energy balance – calories in and calories out – this curriculum is now available at no cost to educators at www.energybalance101.com .

“Discovery Education is proud to support the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation’s efforts to eliminate childhood obesity in America,” commented Mary Rollins, Discovery Education vice president of educational partnerships. “This curriculum provides educators with new tools and resources that they can use in their classrooms to fight this epidemic threatening today’s children.”

This engaging new curriculum, jointly developed by the Discovery Education, pediatric dieticians and the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE ) , includes lesson plans, resources, and videos aligned to state standards, for the K-2 and 3-5 grade bands. The entire curriculum can be integrated into classroom instruction, but is also flexible enough that teachers can use the entire scope of resources or select the elements that best fit their needs.

“NASPE dreams of a healthier nation in which all individuals are physically educated and participate in lifelong physical activity,” said executive director Charlene R. Burgeson. “This excellent new resource will help students achieve the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity every day while having high energy and physical stamina.”

Energy Balance 101 teacher resources are divided into four modules:

Module 1- Introduction to Energy Balance and how to make choices for an active, healthy lifestyle that fit individual needs

Module 2- Food Side of the Energy Balance Scale

Module 3- Physical Activity Side of the Energy Balance Scale

Module 4- Applying Energy Balance to Students’ Lives

Each module includes background information and tips helping teachers, especially those not experts in nutrition or physical education, understand the content, as well as dynamic activities and engaging Discovery Education digital media. Family and community extension resources are also included, helping facilitate further learning beyond the classroom.

“Parents and educators play a key role in teaching children about energy balance and combating childhood obesity,” said Lisa Gable, executive director of the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation. “This partnership helps ensure that we can deliver high-quality curriculum directly into the classroom where it can make a real difference in the lives of our kids.”

Visitors to www.energybalance101.com can also enter the Healthy Playground Makeover Sweepstakes, which is now open for entries. Awarding more than $100,000 in prizes, including over $100,000 from Sports Authority, the Healthy Playground Makeover Sweepstakes grand prize winning school will receive $10,000 to make over a school play space as well as $25,000 to purchase new physical activity and athletic equipment at a local Sports Authority retail location. In addition, each student at the grand prize winning school will receive a sports watch from the Paul Pierce Truth on Health Foundation. Five second place schools will receive $15,000 in equipment as part of the sweepstakes, also contributed by Sports Authority.

To access the Energy Balance 101 curriculum, visit www.energybalance101.com .

About Discovery Education
Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) revolutionized television with Discovery Channel and is now transforming classrooms through Discovery Education. Powered by the number one nonfiction media company in the world, Discovery Education combines scientifically proven, standards-based digital media and a dynamic user community in order to empower teachers to improve student achievement. Already, more than half of all U.S. schools access Discovery Education digital services. Explore the future of education at www.discoveryeducation.com .

About Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation
The Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation is a first-of-its kind coalition that brings together over 100 retailers, food and beverage manufacturers, sporting goods and insurance companies, restaurants, a professional sports association, trade associations, NGOs and the Army. The Foundation focuses on activities in the schools, the workplace and the marketplace to promote healthy weight among Americans by balancing the energy they consume with the energy they expend through physical activity.

About the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE)
The preeminent national authority on physical education and a recognized leader in sport and physical activity, the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) is a non-profit professional membership association that sets the standard for practice in physical education and sport. NASPE’s 15,000 members include: K-12 physical education teachers, coaches, administrators, researchers, and college/university faculty who prepare professionals in these areas. NASPE seeks to enhance knowledge, improve professional practice, and increase support for high-quality physical education, sport and physical activity programs. It is the largest of the five national associations that make up the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation & Dance (AAHPERD). For more information, visit www.naspeinfo.org .

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