Anchorage, Alaska — The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services is partnering with the organization Healthy Futures, and schools statewide for a get-fit campaign aimed at Alaska's children.
The kickoff was held at Susitna Elementary school on Tuesday. Students in grades Kindergarten through second watched as a few of their peers participated in an obstacle course that demonstrated physical activities the children could do at home. The Healthy Futures Challenge encourages students to participate in at least 30 minutes of physical activity, three days a week, for three months. At the end of the challenge in April, students who made it through each phase, is eligible for a grand prize drawing of a sports package.
The challenge is part of the Play Every Day campaign, focused on educating Alaska's youth about the importance of living a healthy and active lifestyle.
Karol Fink, DHSS obesity prevention program manager, says three out of ten Alaska children are overweight or obese, and besides potential health problems as adults, there are also economic consequences- millions of dollars spent on obesity-related medical costs each year.
"Besides being very expensive to treat, kids grow up to be overweight or obese adults and then their condition risks for diabetes, arthritis, stroke, go up," says Fink.
"We find this is a really great thing to do in the winter as we're kind of transitioning from the dark of winter into the spring. So I think this is a perfect time to really get kids focusing on being healthy," says Anchorage School District superintendent Carol Comeau.
About 16,000 students statewide are participating in the three-month challenge.
