December 07, 2004
Chapel Hill, N.C.– Kristine Lilly, gold medalist at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games, today led a team of student athletes from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to celebrate with about 150 third-grade students who are now running, jumping, biking and dancing their way to the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity a day.This pilot project, part of the Get Kids in Action partnership between the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and The Gatorade Co. has brought Carolina student-athletes into classrooms for the past six weeks to inspire children to make physical activity part of their daily routine.

The preliminary results have been encouraging with 76 percent of third graders reporting 60 minutes of physical activity per day by week six, a significant increase over the kids’ activity levels before the program. Sixty minutes of physical activity each day is recommended by many health organizations including USDA and the National Association for Sport and Physical Activity (NASPE).

“Increasing physical activity levels is key to addressing the epidemic of overweight children and the results from this pilot project have shown that college athletes can be an inspiring role model for kids not just to participate in sports, but to make physical activity a cornerstone of their healthy lives,” said Dr. Dianne Ward, the UNC director of research for Get Kids in Action and professor of nutrition at the UNC School of Public Health. “What’s unique about this pilot is that UNC student-athletes developed an ongoing mentoring relationship with the third graders over the six weeks which seems to have resulted in increased motivation for the children to get more physical activity.”

The UNC student-athletes have found the program as rewarding as the third graders they inspired.

“All of us were really psyched to get involved with Get Kids in Action because it seemed like a perfect fit for us,” said Heather O’Reilly, UNC Student Athlete. “It was awesome to be able to work with the kids for six weeks and see them enjoy becoming more active over time.”

During the pilot study, UNC student-athletes worked closely with children to help them identify activities they would be good at and enjoy. UNC student-athletes also led students in a weekly physical activity session and helped children log their physical activity on an Activity Tracker to track and recognize their progress.

“There is no more important message that athletes can send to kids today than to get up, get active and enjoy what you’re doing,” said Kristine Lilly. “As a former UNC athlete, I support Get Kids in Action because I am as passionate about encouraging kids to get active as I am about winning on the soccer field.”

To extend its value, the pilot also included components for the young students’ teachers, physical education teachers and parents. Based on these initially positive results, UNC plans to conduct a second pilot study in early spring and potentially expand the program more widely in the fall 2005. “The results of this pilot study re-affirm our confidence in the Get Kids in Action partnership to identify groundbreaking solutions to the important national issue of childhood obesity,” said Chuck Maniscalco, president of The Gatorade Co. “With our support of Get Kids in Action, Gatorade is confirming our longstanding commitment to helping kids become more active.”

Get Kids in Action — a four year, $4 million partnership between UNC’s School of Public Health, UNC’s Department of Athletics and The Gatorade Co. — is designed to identify real and proven solutions to increase physical activity to reduce and prevent children from becoming overweight. Unlike other child activity programs, Get Kids in Action will study the linkages between the full range of individuals who can help make a difference in this issue: physicians, families and community leaders.

Get Kids in Action has three main areas of focus: research, education and outreach. Research conducted by UNC’s School of Public Health will study strategies that physicians, community groups and families can use to help kids become more physically active. The education component will include a series of initiatives such as activity conferences, a nutrition curriculum for medical residents and a comprehensive Web site that will educate health professionals, community leaders and families on the most up-to-date approaches for increasing activity levels among children. This pilot study tested the student athlete outreach component in which UNC student-athletes served as role models for active behavior to elementary school children. For more information, visit: www.getkidsinaction.com.

The Gatorade-UNC partnership counts toward the Carolina First campaign goal of $1.8 billion. Carolina first is a comprehensive, multi-year private fund-raising campaign to support Carolina’s vision of becoming the nation’s leading public university.

Gatorade Thirst Quencher, the nation’s leading sports drink, was created 35 years ago at the University of Florida to help athletes stay hydrated and play their best game. Research on the effects of exercise, environment, nutrition and hydration is conducted at the Gatorade Sports Science Institute.

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For further information please contact Emily Smith either by phone at 919.966.8498 or by email at emily_smith@unc.edu

 

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