Cookin’ With Cutty, the nationally syndicated Hawaii-based television series, has partnered with the West Hawaii Community Health Center to launch a statewide obesity initiative for kids. “Cutty’s Keiki Fitness Challenge” is a three-month program that encourages good health for keiki and their families by increasing awareness of the benefits of eating well and exercising – while having fun at the same time.
Cutty’s Keiki Fitness Challenge is open to children ages 8-16 and their families and is free to all participants. The first 800 keiki to sign up will receive a “Keiki Get Fit Backpack” filled with fitness goodies. Each keiki will also receive a booklet of health information, including an exercise and nutrition program and log book.
Upon starting the program, participants will be tested for strength, endurance, flexibility, body mass, body fat, blood pressure and other key health indexes to create a baseline from which to measure improvement. Then they’ll embark on the Challenge, incorporating exercise and nutrition tips provided by the program, and keep track of their activity in their fitness log. (For kids with internet access, progress can be tracked online.)
Here’s how it works: First, participants download a registration form and fitness log at www.keikifitnesschallenge.com. Next, they’ll visit any of the 13 community health centers statewide to obtain their starting fitness assessment. Three months later, they’ll return to the health center for a final assessment. Those who finish with the greatest increase in their “Cutty Health Index” will be eligible to win cash, prizes, scholarships, a TV commercial appearance and much more.
The registration period is now through April 30th, 2007. Participants will have three months from the date of registration to complete the Challenge.
Dr. Erica Evans, Medical Director at the West Hawaii Community Health Center said, “Our purpose is to motivate children to make healthy lifestyle choices by promoting physical activity, healthy eating habits, and self esteem. We also hope to encourage parents to engage with their children and become good role models by increasing their own level of physical activity and making healthier lifestyle choices concerning diet and nutrition.”
The prevalence of childhood obesity in the United States has risen dramatically in the past several decades and is now at epidemic proportions. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported in its 2005 “Youth Risk Behavior Survey” that 28 percent of Hawaii high school
students were either overweight or at risk for becoming overweight; 62 percent did not attend physical education classes; 72 percent did not meet recommended levels of physical activity; and 81 percent ate fruits and vegetables less than five times a day.
Overweight and obesity substantially raises the risk of developing health problems such as high blood pressure, type II diabetes, heart disease, breast, colon and prostate cancers.
While many people attempt to lose weight, studies show that the majority regain their loss within five years. To maintain weight loss, healthful dietary habits must be coupled with increased physical activity and long-term lifestyle changes. Cutty’s Keiki Fitness Challenge is a community-based educational effort that has the potential of reaching thousands of Hawaii’s children and their families with a message of making healthy choices for a lifetime.
Cutty’s Keiki Fitness Challenge will be featured in several episodes of “Cookin’ With Cutty,” to be broadcast nationwide as a network special on the America One Network, as well as in Hawaii on Oceanic Time Warner Cable’s Channel OC16 and in California on Time Warner’s Adelphia Network.
Cutty’s Keiki Fitness Challenge is proudly sponsored by KTA Superstores, Kama’aina Kids, Maui Gold, West Hawaii Community Health Center and Cookin’ With Cutty, with support from the HMSA Foundation and Oceanic Time Warner Cable.
