Getting the Next Generation Active

Getting the Next Generation Active

An introduction to working with NFL Play60 to decrease childhood obesity

Barry Sanders

Dr. Wright

March 14, 2104

Table of ContentsIntroduction1

What is the NFL Play60 initiative?2

Using Sport for Development4

Why do people decide to join the NFL Play60 movement?6

What we should do moving forward7

Conclusion8

· Who this guide is for

· Teachers

· Educators

· What it will help you do

· Understand the most effective ways to educated children

· Learn how schools can have an impact on their students well being

· Recognize the importance of being healthy young

Getting the Next Generation Active

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Getting the Next Generation Active

An introduction to working with NFL Play60 to decrease childhood obesity Introduction

Recent reports have shown there has been a decrease in the obesity rates among 2 to 5 year old children over the past decade. This 43 percent drop came as a surprise to researchers. The numbers got as high as 14 percent in 2004, but has now been brought down to 8 percent (Tavernise). This is the first time there has been a significant decrease amongst any group. It is said that kids who are obese or overweight from the ages of 3 to 5 are five times more likely to be obese as adults. The focus now should be on ages 6 to 19 and how can we decrease the childhood obesity rates amongst this group. Seventeen percent or 12.5 million kids ages 2 to 19 are considered obese. Although these recent reports show reduced obesity rates of 2 to 5 year olds, there is still too many of our young Americans not living up to their potential. Only through sport will we be able to educate and encourage youth of the next generation how important is if to their future for them to start living healthy now. Scholars have said the lack of participation in sports have contributed to this rapid growth in obesity numbers. Getting gets to participate in sports for the fun on it is the only way Craig Stewart sees this problem changing (Stewart).

This white paper introduces parents, teachers, and educators to the NFL Play60 curriculum, so they can have the power to educate their kids and students on healthy habits. Understanding what motivates this age demographic will help educators encourage these kids to make the right decisions. Ultimately, kids will have to make the decision for themselves to change their habits, but with the support of organizations like the NFL these decisions will become more appealing.

What is the NFL Play60 initiative?

The NFL Play60 initiative can be considered a platform capable of decreasing the childhood obesity rates through fun and interactive programs. The campaign is meant to tackle childhood obesity by encouraging kids to be active for at least 60 minutes a day. Moderate activity not only has been proven to have physical benefits, but psychological and social benefits have shown to be a result.

Currently over 70,000 schools are enrolled in the program. For schools to be enrolled the must have a program advisor. The advisor can be any adult enrolled in Play60. It is encouraged for schools to have more then one advisor. Schools with more than one advisor are eligible to apply for Funds for Fuel Up to Play60.

Elizabeth Reynolds Lupo is a program advisor and P.E. teacher in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Her job is simple job. She is in charge of encouraging other adults and students in school to get involved. She also helps the school and students get the most out of the Fuel Up to Play60 programs.

Things only a school advisor can do:

· Complete and check off the Six Steps of Fuel Up to Play 60 on your Dashboard.

· Receive recognition on behalf of Fuel Up Play 60 in a report sent to your school’s principal and District Superintendent.

· Help your school earn the Fuel Up Play 60 Touchdown School Award.

The NFL and all of its teams are supportive of the NFL Play60 programs. Every year teams reach out into their communities and show their support to those committed to Play60. Each team will do something different. The Detroit Lions partnered with United Way to help provide better food resources to food insecure families in the Detroit inner city. The Baltimore Ravens held a Play60 festival on a military base. Over 200 kids and families came out to show their support. With the participation from these organizations it only increases the value of joining the Play60 program. It becomes more appeal for youth to participate in these programs when they know some of their favorite athletes are behind them.

Fuel Up to Play60 offers kids the resources to eat healthy and become more active. Studies have shown children who are more nutritious and physically active are better students. This is why the NFL targets not only individuals but encourages strong schools involvement. The kids are not just benefiting physically, there are mental benefits too (Dennis).

Kids are more likely to do something if their friends are doing it too. The Play60 programs stresses the importance of community and peer group interaction. The program likes to reward participants who have taken the initiative and reached out into their communities and to their peers. From February 17 through March 31 kids from ages 13 and older are allowed to enter the ‘It Starts With School Breakfast Campaign”. The kids must work with a program advisor to host a breakfast event at their school. The goal is to get friends and classmates to show off what they eat for breakfast by using hashtags #SchoolBreakfast and #BreakfastSelfie on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. The NFL gives prizes to those most committed.

Using Sport for Development

Most people don’t understand how the body response to moderate daily activity. Being physically active is the single most important thing we can do to improve or maintain our health. Regular exercise not only lowers the risk of developing or dying from heart disease, stroke and diabetes, it has also been proven to prevent certain cancers, improve mood, build bone, strengthen muscles, and expand lung capacity. The Unites States exercise guidelines recommends 30 minutes of moderate activity, five or more days a week. Exercise does mean different things for different people, and it is important to understand it can take many forms and occurs at different levels of intensity (Bassuk). That is what makes this topic so difficult to address, there is no perfect formula that will be affective for everybody. The NFL Play 60 movement is the way for kids to take control of their own health and not feel conformed to strict instructions.

No other platform can provide the amount of resources and have as much nation outreach than a sports platform. More specifically no other organization will have the amount of exposer and partnerships for as many prominent groups than the NFL. Because of these partnerships they have been able to give over $200 million to child health and wellness the Play60 campaign. Play60 has a first class group or partners, which include some of the flowing.

Most of the TV exposer from the campaign occurs during key calendar events for the NFL. These events include: NFL Kickoff, Thanksgiving, the Super Bowl, the Pro Bowl, and the NFL draft. ESPN and the NFL Network advertise the commercials year round. Those unfamiliar with the NFL viewership may not realize how many people tune in to these events.

Why do people decide to join the NFL Play60 Movement?

Incentives are another way Play 60 likes to keeps its participants involved. One lucky kid was awarded the opportunity to go to the Super Bowl as the NFL Play 60 Super Kid. The kid heard about the contest from reading one of his favorite magazines and decided he would write an essay to the NFL giving his testimony for how being active has been instrumental to his life. The NFL granted him the experience of a lifetime. He was awarded a lunch with his favorite player from his favorite team, Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburg Steelers. He was able to tour the Steeler facilities where he got to meet head coach Mike Tomlin and other players. The NFL sent him to New York for the Super Bowl where the fun continued as he got to attend his first NFL game and bring out the game ball.

Schools can also benefit from participating in the Play 60 movement. Currently for the schools K-12 enrolled for the Fuel Up to Play 60, there is a chance to win up to $4,000 per year if they decide to choose one Healthy Eating Play and one Physical Activity Play from the 2013-14 Playbook.

Healthy Eating

Physical Activity

Breakfast- Grab and Go!

All the Right Moves

Breakfast in the Classroom

Dance Around the World

Build a Better Breakfast

In-Class Physical Activity Breaks

Make Your Case for School Breakfast

Make Your Case for Quality Physical Education

Promoting Popular Choices

Walk for Wellness Club

This playbook is a great example of the variety of different approaches the program offers. Each year the playbook changes, setting new goals and activates for the year.

What we should do moving forward

The approach NFL Play60 uses encouraged active participation amongst all of their participants. Other programs might focus on education in schools or developing programs for schools to be active, but because the NFL as been able to effectively done both have they had such success. In order to decrease the childhood obesity number down to where we want to see them, educating the audience about the dangers of living unhealthy is most important. Getting active participation is next, and seeing the results is the last priority. People need to continue supporting the NFL Play60 movement so we can fix this problem before this generation becomes the first to be sicker and die younger than their parents. The NFL has done a lot thus far fighting this battle, but no matter how many people they are able to help there will always be people in need. The program encourages teachers to contact them with whatever needs their school has to kick-start their school to becoming active Play60 participants.

There have been first hand accounts where teacher has been able to make the difference within their school and ultimately the community. A math teacher from Abbott Middle School, in Elgin, Illinois, titled his story “It’s All About Teamwork”. It was three years ago when he decided to adopt Play 60 into his curriculum at Abbott. Him and a few other teachers have taken it upon themselves to try and be the difference. They started a run/walk club after school, which did help kids become more active, but he admits that still wasn’t enough. “I needed more help to really make a difference with my students”, this teacher quoted. First, he got the cafeteria manager involved to help out with healthier foods for breakfast and lunch. Then to incorporate Play 60 movement he had to team up with the head of PE so 60 minutes of play can be apart of their everyday curriculum. This is just one of many stories posted on the site revealing how this program has had an impact on the lives of many (Fuel Up to Play60).

Conclusion

The NFL Play60 program is just another example of the power sport has in our country. Sport can be used across a variety of different platforms to convey important messages. Play60 and its partners have taken full advantage of using the sports platform to educated kids about how fun it can be to live healthy and active. The NFL alone won’t be able to tackle this problem, but with the help of schools and other educators this epidemic should be in the back of everyone mind. There have already been small glimpse of hope with the numbers of obesity reducing for kid’s ages 2 to 5, but this still isn’t enough to stop now. The obesity numbers are still too high for kids under the age of 19. The only way these numbers are going to drop if organizations like the NFL reach out into the community and start making a difference. Play60 will not stop until we see desirable results.

References

Bassuk, Shari S., Timothy S. Church, and JoAnn E. Manson. "Why Works Exercise Magic." Scientific American 309.2 (2013): 74-79. Academic Search Premier. Web. 30 Jan. 2014.

Dennis, Adam, Adviye Ergul, Barbara A. Gower, Jerry D. Allison, and Catherine L. Davis. "Oxidative Stress and Cardiovascular Risk in Overweight Children in an Exercise Intervention Program." Childhood Obesity 9.1 (2013): 15-21. EJournal. Web. 27 Jan. 2014.

"ESPN, Inc. Fact Sheet." ESPN MediaZone. Web. 25 Jan. 2014.

Fuel Up To Play 60. Success Stories. Web. 28 Jan. 2014

Fuel Up To Play 60 for Education Professionals." Fuel Up To Play 60 for Education Professionals. Web. 8 Mar. 2014.

Katz, David L. "Childhood Obesity Trends in 2013: Mind, Matter, and Message." Childhood Obesity 9.1 (2013): 1-2. EJournal. Web. 27 Jan. 2014.

NFL PLAY 60 - NFL RUSH." RSS. Web. 1 Mar. 2014.

Stewart, C., Warhol, J., Overton, K., Wiet, C. E., & al, e. (2005). Issues: Has the decline of intramural sports contributed to the youth obesity epidemic? Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 76(1), 11-13.

Tavernise, Sabrina. "Obesity Rate for Young Children Plummets 43% in a Decade." The New York Times. The New York Times, 25 Feb. 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2014.

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Getting the Next Generation Active

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