Sports event to tackle childhood obesity
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The 2008 Fall Family Football Fest will be held Saturday at the Sports Hall of Fame & Museum.
The American Heart Association and the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum (MSHOF&M) are teaming up to educate local families about making healthy choices at the 2008 Fall Family Football Fest. The event will include fun activities for kids like football drills, cheerleading clinics, games and prizes. Parents will receive healthy tips about getting their family moving and planning healthy meals. The football fest will be held Saturday, September 27th at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum located at 1152 Lakeland Drive in Jackson, MS from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m.
Parents and kids will also get a chance to meet Mississippi Sports Hall of Famers Willie Richardson, W.C. Gorden, Harper Davis and Ben Williams. “We are joining with the American Heart Association to encourage children and families to stay active this fall by participating in sports or finding other ways to get moving,” said Michael Rubenstein, executive director of the MSHOF&M. “Physical activity and healthy eating habits are important factors in creating a healthier generation of Mississippians,” said Rubenstein.
September is national Go Healthy Month – a time where children and their parents are encouraged to begin healthy habits. Today, 11 million kids are overweight, and an additional 13 million are at risk for being overweight. As a result more and more kids are developing conditions and diseases that would normally be associated with adults—like high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, and type-2 diabetes. Mississippi was has the highest rate of cardiovascular disease in the nation and was recently named the state with the highest rate of obesity. The American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation have joined together to form the Alliance for a Healthier Generation to empower kids and their families to make healthy choices to live longer, stronger lives.
For more information about the 2008 Fall Family Football Fest or how you can prevent heart disease and stroke for yourself and your family call the American Heart Association at 601-321-1200 or the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame & Museum at 1-800-280-FAME (3263).
