In the Community
March 4, 2013
Contact: Brendan Doherty, Kaiser Permanente, office: 510-271-5624, mobile: 510-407-7567
Make March 4 Matter and ‘Fire Up Your Feet’
Kaiser Permanente is urging students, their parents and families, and school staff and teachers to “March Forth!” on March 4, and sign up their schools for Fire Up Your Feet!. (www.fireupyourfeet.org)
Fire Up Your Feet!, sponsored by Kaiser Permanente and developed in partnership with the Safe Routes to School National Partnership and the National PTA, is an online walking and activity program that encourages students, their parents and families, and school staff and teachers to walk or bike to and from school, and to incorporate more physical activity into the school day. Fire Up Your Feet! provides a full range of age-appropriate family-engagement resources, simple ways to track activity and earn awards, and includes a fund-raising option that offers schools a healthy way to raise money.
Parents and teachers will find all that’s needed to help them and their school-aged children walk more, play more, and find the joy of being physically active as a family and in school. Any school or PTA group in the country can access these year-round resources and tools.
Additionally, each spring and fall, elementary and middle schools in the communities Kaiser Permanente serves can participate in the Fire Up Your Feet Challenge Campaign. Parents, kids, school staff and teachers have the opportunity to sign up and compete for challenge awards for their school. Each campaign is 10 weeks long and includes a four-week registration period, a four-week tracking period and a two-week conclusion during which awards will be distributed. The Challenge Campaign includes an interactive website, activity trackers, program support and educational materials, and resources promoting physical activity to, from and at schools.
Fire Up Your Feet! is a major component of Kaiser Permanente Thriving Schools: a partnership for healthy students, staff and teachers, which aims to create a culture of health and wellness in schools. Kaiser Permanente also provides health and wellness tools and programs to employers, large groups, municipalities, labor unions and the general public.
As the body of evidence grows to support how poor diet and inactivity contribute to obesity and chronic disease, it becomes even clearer that regular activity is a critical component of health — let alone a great way to have fun. Walking a minimum of 30 minutes a day, five days a week for adults, or 60 minutes or more of physical activity every day for kids, can help address chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity and depression. Every Body Walk!, a Kaiser Permanente campaign to get America walking includes Fire Up Your Feet!, which underscores the importance of walking to, from and during school. Walking is a simple, easy and enjoyable activity that nearly everyone can do. Contributing to a national walking movement not only improves the country’s overall health, but can create deeper connections to the communities where we live, work, learn and play.
Don’t miss your chance to sign up for Fire Up Your Feet today!
