For immediate release: March 11, 2010
Contact: Olivia Belter - (716) 857-6312

Buffalo, NY--Heim Elementary School students participated in Univera Healthcare’s Fun 2B Fit program, which is a school-based initiative encouraging children and their families to make healthier food choices by trying new foods, increasing their level of physical activity, shopping for healthy foods and preparing meals together. This is the fifth year the Fun 2B Fit program has come to Heim Elementary School.

The second graders are participating in 12 weeks of healthy taste testing as part of the program. Students will sample recipes such as the Tropical ‘Go Bananas’ Smoothie and Shepherd’s Pie and try a different recipe weekly. Students are encouraged to at least try the foods each week and receive a laminated recipe card to take home so they can make the recipe with their family. The students also receive a lime green, kid-sized chef apron to encourage them to cook with their parents and help with food preparation.

Nearly 170 third graders participated in a physical activity lesson entitled Why it’s Fun 2B Fit as part of Fun 2B Fit earlier this year. The third grade students, led by a Fun 2B Fit fitness instructor, took part in a 45-minute workout and lesson developed especially for kids that incorporates easy, fun dance moves and stretches. During the workout, students were taught the various muscles of the body and their function, and discussed the importance of physical activity and how it can be done at home with family members.

Parents of all students participating in Why it’s Fun 2B Fit receive a backpack full of tools to help them make healthy choices for their families. Each tool kit contains a magnetic grocery pad for the refrigerator with pre-printed healthy items on each tear-off page, a magnet with everyday tips on how parents can keep their kids healthy, a Healthy Family Pledge to be signed and displayed in the home, and the tool kit itself is a sling-style backpack that can be reused as a gym bag, or to take on family outings.

For fourth graders, Fun 2B Fit offers a shopping and food preparation field trip to a local Wegmans store. The Eat Well. Live Well. tour is a 2-hour tour of Wegmans based on the Food Guide Pyramid. The tour is intended to be the first step in developing good eating habits by introducing children to a variety of healthful foods in a fun and interactive way.

Fun 2B Fit was created by Univera Healthcare to combat childhood obesity and is based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the New York State Learning Standards. According to the Center for Disease Control www.cdc.gov the rates of childhood obesity have doubled, or in some age groups tripled since 1980. Obese children and adolescents are at risk for health problems during their youth and as adults. For example, during their youth, obese children and adolescents are more likely to have risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease (such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and Type 2 diabetes) than are other children and adolescents.

25,000 Western New York students at 100 schools have participated in Univera Healthcare’s Fun 2B Fit program.

Univera Healthcare’s Fun 2B Fit program was honored by America’s Health Insurance Plan (AHIP) in 2008 with their prestigious Community Leadership Award honoring a health plan with a focus on improving health and community partnerships.

Fun 2B Fit program partners include Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. and Body Shaping by Sandy.

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