Big Brothers Big Sisters Introduces Big Fitness Program; Hundreds of Kids, Volunteers to Get Healthy

MIAMI, FL - USA (SANEPR.com) July 25, 2008 -- Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Miami (BBBS) is launching a new program, BIG Fitness, in order to reduce child obesity in South Florida. BBBS will partner with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and the program is funded by the Health Foundation of South Florida. Beginning in May 2008, this life-changing program will allow the organization’s children and their mentors to take a Go Healthy pledge and participate in fitness and sports activities, cooking lessons and nutrition classes.

The BIG Fitness program is divided into three components, education, nutrition and fitness. Children, mentors and families will learn how to incorporate these into their daily lives.
BBBS aims to reduce the number of overweight children and increase their activity level. 200 “Bigs” and their “Littles” will learn about nutrition labels, participate in sports games and acquire the knowledge to maintain a healthy and balanced diet.

This program, three years in the making, comes at a time where a childhood obesity epidemic is overtaking the nation. According to the National Center for Healthy Statistics, 19 percent of children ages 9-11 and 17 percent ages 12-19 are considered obese. Seventy percent of those obese children grow up to be obese adults, and one in every five children is overweight. BIG Fitness hopes to reverse this trend among the targeted group of young people who participate in this program. “Our goal”, says BBBS Vice President of Programs Gale Nelson, “is to show that it can be fun to get healthy and we’re excited to partner with the Health Foundation to turn around some young lives”

About the Alliance for a Healthier Generation

The William J. Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association partnered in May 2005 to create a new generation of healthy Americans by addressing one of the nation’s leading public health threats – childhood obesity. The goal is to stop the nationwide increase in childhood obesity by 2010, and to empower kids nationwide to make healthy lifestyle choices. The Alliance will positively affect the places that can make a difference to a child’s health: homes, schools, restaurants, doctor’s offices and communities. For more information please visit: www.HealthierGeneration.org

About the Health Foundation of South Florida

Health Foundation of South Florida strengthens our region to be a beacon of innovative and effective multicultural approaches to health care. As a grant making foundation, its mission is to expand access to affordable, quality health care for underserved individuals in Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties by focusing on healthy lifestyles, preventive measures, primary care and oral health. Since 1993, the Foundation awarded more than $75 million in grants and direct program support. For information, please call (305) 374-7200 or visit www.hfsf.org.

About Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Miami

Big Brothers Big Sisters is the oldest and largest youth mentoring organization in the United States. BBBS of Greater Miami, founded in 1958, now celebrating its 50 year anniversary, is one of the largest local agencies in the country, serving more than 7,000 local children, volunteers and families through professionally supported, one-to-one relationships with caring adult volunteers. For information about Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Miami, visit www.wementor.org or call (305) 644-0066.
Contact:

Fabiola Fleuranvil of Blueprint Creative Group
for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Miami
(404) 437-0078
Fabiola@BlueprintCreativeGroup.com
www.WeMentor.org
www.BlueprintCreativeGroup.com