Kids Fitness, Health & Wellness » Motivation

GoTrybe Announces Contest Winners

admin — Thu, 26 May 2011 01:09:19 +0000

Students, Teachers and Coordinated School Health (CSH) Coordinators
Recognized for Their Efforts To Get Healthy and Active.

Funded by a grant from the Tennessee Department of Health through Project Diabetes,
GoTrybe, an online physical activity and health education tool, has been available
to approximately 175,000 students and faculty in seventeen school districts. These
school districts are located in GoTrybe’s home region of East Tennessee and every
year since GoTrybe’s inception, the homegrown program has offered rewards for its top
participants. GoTrybe’s student and teacher winners are chosen based on recording the highest levels of participation in fitness, while the CSH Coordinators are rewarded for the largest percentage of participating teachers in their respective district. As you might expect, the winners each year are people just like you and me that have made a decision to be active and strive for better health.

“We are very excited to reward those who have worked so hard, says Dr. Bill Joyner Co-Founder of GoTrybe. We are focused on making a positive impact and we’re glad to see students, teachers and the CSH Coordinators utilizing our unique program. We’re focused on GoTrybe being a useful, fun, healthy tool for getting fit and fighting childhood obesity and Type 2 diabetes.”

GoTrybe has chosen to reward teachers and CSH Coordinators with gift cards to local retailers. We all know that teachers and coordinators are often spending out of their own pockets to fund supplies and activities for the students they serve—these rewards will go a long way to help with those types of expenditures. GoTrybe is also rewarding the students with technology prizes.

“Everything we do is in an effort to support an active lifestyle. We want all Trybers to enjoy being active and healthy because we see, not only the health benefits, but the impact that improved health can have on academics, says Dr. Joyner.”

Good health and improved academics go hand-in-hand and GoTrybe will continue to work with teachers and CSH Coorindators to give Tennessee students every opportunity to live well and excel in school.

Some of our GoTrybe Active Winners:

Teacher Winners:

$1000 1st Place-Beverly Lockhead (Knox Co.)

$750 2nd Place-Patrick Hurst (Knox Co.)

$500 3rd Place-Andie Breeden (Knox Co.)

$250 4th Place-Rachel Dunlap (Johnson City)

$100 5th Place-Lindsey McAllister (Knox Co.)

Coordinated School Health Winners:

$1000 1st Place-Aneisa McDonald (Knox Co.)

$750 2nd Place-Beth Cox (Johnson City)

$500 3rd Place-Don Best (Sevier Co.)

$250 4th Place-Mary Beth Blevins (Blount Co.)

$100 5th Place-Erica Phillips (Hawkins Co.)

GoTrybe is an online, active community dedicated to the health and wellness of our youth. GoTrybe gets young people on the move by developing Active Screen Time™. “Trybers” can interact with fitness, nutrition, motivation and wellness content that supports their journey toward living healthfully. GoTrybe wants to be an inspiring force in the fight to get children and teens active while combating childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes. Gotrybe.com is composed of three Trybes: ZooDoos, up to 5th grade, Trybe180, 6th-9th grade and Nextrybe, 10th-12th grade.

For more information on GoTrybe, contact Stephanie Thompson at 423-926-1583 or visit www.GoTrybe.com and GoTrybe’s blog at www.kidsfitnessblog.com.

A Huge Thank You!

admin — Wed, 18 May 2011 15:02:01 +0000

GoTrybe would like to take the time to thank all of you for using our program and making an effort to change your lives through physical activity and healthy living. As this school year comes to a close, we want to say a special word of thanks to all of the school systems, administrators, and teachers who have implemented our program into your schools and classsrooms. A huge congratulations goes out to the Knox County Schools and the Johnson City Schools for your large interest in our program and the mass amount of teacher usage numbers that you have been displaying. Contest winners will be announced at the end of this month and will be highlighted on our blog like always. We encourage all of our users to keep up the good work through the summer months and remain active. The weather is perfect to get outside and exercise as a family with a bike ride, hike, or even a swim in the pool. We will be working hard to get everyone prepared for the start of the next school year by helping teachers brainstorm ways to incorporate our program into your daily schedule for the maximum benefit of the students. We look forward to working with each of you again next year!!!

GoTrybe Attends Science Day at Town Acres

admin — Mon, 09 May 2011 00:35:52 +0000

GoTrybe participated in Science Day at Town Acres Elementary School in Johnson City, TN on March 28, 2011. One of our very own trainers, Mrs. Sheridan Crockett, presented a class on zumba to small groups of students at the school to encourage them to incorporate physical fitness into their daily routines. By making exercising fun for people of all ages, GoTrybe hopes to change the unhealthy lifestyles that so many Americans have in an effort to decrease the prevalence of obesity and diabetes. GoTrybe targets students of all ages so that they may learn to eat healthier and live longer by adopting a healthy lifestyle at a young age. We look forward to participating in future events that support and promote healthy living.

New Compound Blocks Bitter Flavors

admin — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 21:10:33 +0000

The American Chemical Society has announced a new compound, GIV3616, that has the ability to block bitter tastes from your taste buds. This compound could be added to foods, beverages, and even medicines to give them a more pleasant taste. While this compound is not the only one of its kind (artificial sweeteners contain a similar compound called GIV3727), it is much more potent than others before it and dissolves more quickly into foods and beverages. Many of you may be wondering why this new compound is so revolutionary to the average consumer. While GIV3616 can certainly be added to cough syrups to make them taste better to both kids and adults, perhaps the most exciting use for this new compound has to do with healthy eating. Our nation recognizes that obesity is an epidemic in our country that can lead to a variety of health related issues, so Americans are trying to eat healthier and lead more active lifestyles. GIV3616 can be added to low-calorie drinks to take away that aftertaste that they tend to have. It can also be added to healthy foods to block out the bitter tastes that keep some from consuming them. Food manufacturers around the world are trying to make foods that contain less salt , fat, and sugar. However, these foods are not always pleasing to the palate. This problem can easily be solved by blocking the tastes that are not very appealing and adding a sweeter flavor. Just think…..broccoli could become a new favorite food for kids around the world. Move over pizza….make room for brussel sprouts!!!!

Check out the link below for the full story!!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42323287/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/

Why Pack Your Lunch?

admin — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 20:30:00 +0000

While schools are currently attempting to make lunches in the cafeteria healthier due largely in part to new legislation on childhood obesity, there are still many good reasons to pack your lunch. Even when schools offer healthy food options, there are often temptations on the lunch line that are hard to resist. So, avoiding the lunch line altogether can be a much healthier option. There are a number of benefits to packing your lunch at least two to three times each week. For starters, when you pack your lunch, you are able to control what kinds of foods that you eat. You are also able to control the portion size of these choices, which can be very beneficial when watching things like sugar intake and calories. Secondly, you can pack a variety of different things in your lunch box that may not be offered through your cafeteria. Most schools have lunch menus that alternate every two weeks. This means that you eat the same foods every other week. Packing your lunch allows you to choose a variety of foods and colors to make you healthier and give you more energy. Thirdly, packing your lunch can actually save money! School lunches can get expensive, especially when you want to add items to your tray like an extra milk or cookie. Therefore, packing your lunch can actually cut down on the cost incurred. Lastly, there is no waiting in that line when your lunch is already packed. Many kids overeat because they are so hungry by the time lunch comes around each day. Packing your lunch allows you to skip the line and start eating right away. Overall, school lunches continue to improve in nutritional value. However, there are still many reasons to skip that lunch line and take a few minutes to pack your lunch before school. Those extra few minutes can make a huge difference in leading a healthy lifestyle.

Raising Healthy Kids

admin — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 15:32:48 +0000

If you are a frequent visitor to our blog, you know that we focus on childhood fitness as a way to help prevent childhood diabetes and obesity. Our online fitness program, GoTrybe, is just one way to incorporate fitness and nutrition into the lives of your children. While most parents would agree that they want their children to live healthy and active lives, is it possible to raise healthy kids if you are not healthy yourself? After doing some research, I came across an article from WebMD that discussed how to raise active kids when you are an inactive parent. A study from 2010 showed that parents who watch 2 hrs. or more of television each day also have kids who do the same. This may be due largely in part to the fact that parents spend time with their children by watching tv rather than doing physical activities as a family such as bike riding or yoga. This is a trend that is easy to change by getting off the couch and engaging yourself and your children in an active lifestyle. WebMD recommends starting this active lifestyle at a slow pace so that you do not get burned out by adding a 10 minute walk to your day and building up from there. Remember that you are one of the most important role models in your child’s life. If you do not live a healthy lifestyle, it makes it difficult for your children to.

WebMD offers a variety of activities that are fun and will encourage physical activity in your life. These activities are age specific and will help you get off to a good start on this important adventure that could save your life. Please visit the link below for the full article.

http://www.webmd.com/parenting/raising-fit-kids/move/raising-active-kids?page=2

Exercise Improves Math and Thinking Skills in Overweight Students

admin — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 17:40:23 +0000

While it is easy to see the health benefits of exercising and living a healthy lifestyle when it comes to losing weight and decreasing the prevalence of obesity and diabetes, a new study shows that exercise actually motivates the brain to help students perform better in school. This study, highlighted in the January edition of Health Psychology, lead researcher Catherine Davis and her team collected data from 171 overweight students who ranged in age from 7 to 11. These students were randomly assigned to either not exercise after school at all, exercise for 20 minutes daily, or exercise for 40 minutes daily. The students who were chosen to exercise were asked to do so at a vigorous pace and to have fun with it Competition was not made a factor in the exercise and activities like hula hooping and jumping rope were encouraged.

At the end of the trial period, all students were given an achievement test, with some students being selected to receive an MRI to track brain activity levels in certain regions of the brain. These MRIs showed that students who exercised had increased activity in the area of the brain that is responsible for self-control, planning, reasoning, and abstract thoughts. The prefrontal cortex also showed increased activity, which is the area responsible for complex thinking and social behaviors. All of these are skills are used in mathematics and problem solving. The achievement test revealed that the more the children exercised, the more points they actually went up in intelligence testing-as much as 3.8 points for those who got 40 minutes of exercise daily for the three month period. So what does all this mean?

After examining the report, it is important to note that this study shows a link between exercise and actual student scores on achievement testing. Exercise motivates and stimulates the brain in the areas that are linked to improving scores in math and problem solving. Considering this latest research, we can see how important it is that our children get up and moving, not only for their physical health, but also for their mental health. The combination of new cafeteria guidelines for more nutritional school lunches and the state mandated physical activity requirements for classrooms are just two ways that our nation is acting on research of this nature. Hopefully, we are on our way to seeing a decrease in childhood obesity and diabetes and an increase in healthier lifestyles. GoTrybe is committed to helping schools make this happen.

http://news.health.com/2011/02/11/overweight-kids-who-exercise-improve-thinking-math-skills-study/

Dean Karnazes Starts Run Across America on February 25th

admin — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 15:02:55 +0000

Dean Karnazes -famous marathon runner, motivational speaker, and world-renowed author- is at it again with his biggest challenge yet! Dean will begin a nearly 3,0000 mile run on February 25th that will kick off at the Disneyland Resort in Southern California and end in the middle of May at the Live with Regis and Kelly studio in New York City. Though Karnazes has been involved in many marathons and is a pro at this sort of thing, this marathon will be his biggest, requiring him to run between 40-50 miles daily-the equivalent of two marathons! The purpose of this Run Across America challenge is to encourage Americans to get up and moving all across our nation. On-Star, Wal-Greens, and Eucerin have all teamed up with Dean, as well as LIVE, to make this event possible.

Although the run in itself is quite remarkable, Regis and Kelly will be tracking Dean’s challenge every step of the way with live and videotaped portions of his run so that America can take the journey with him. Karnazes has agreed to add to this by updating a blog and taking photographs along the way to keep the viewers informed of his every challenge and success. Many cities have agreed to host 5k running events that are entitled “Run with Dean” where other marathon runners can join in on a small portion of his newest challenge, with all proceeds going to Action for Healthy Kids (a non-profit organization that fights weight problems in kids and helps schools become healthier places by teaching kids to eat right and exercise).

Dean Karnazes has truly been an inspiration to American’s across the nation in his efforts to stay healthy and get our nation moving in the right direction. Dean was named one of the nations “100 Top Influential People in the World” by TIME magazine, the “Fittest Man on the Planet” by Men’s Fitness Magazine, and “Best Outdoor Athlete” for the 2008 ESPY Awards. He has become a best selling author for his books on fitness and healthy living, as well as a motivational speaker for people around the nation. We expect to keep seeing great things from Dean Karnazes and look forward to tracking his journey with him as he makes a milestone in marathon history. Good luck, Dean!!!

http://nutritiondietnews.com/dean-karnazes-running-3000-miles-on-regis-and-kelly-show/851794/

Do Working Moms Contribute to Obesity?

admin — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 13:46:10 +0000

While we know that childhood obesity continues to rise at an alarming rate, we strive to know the causes for this rise and prevention efforts to keep this trend from continuing throughout life. A new study from the Child Development journal says that the more years a mother spends working after her child is born, the more that child’s body mass index increases. While this may make many working mothers feel guilty and the statistics were significant, they were not reported to be jaw-dropping. The increase in body mass index amounted to about one pound of weight. While 70% of mothers are working during these tough economic times, it is easy to see how fast-food and suppers that are not the healthiest are being served around the nation. Time plays a factor in how much mothers are able to prepare a healthy meal and allow their families to sit down and enjoy it.

While the researchers certainly do not mean to point the finger at working mothers, they identify that this is just one of the factors that may affect childhood obesity. This research was conducted through the American University, Cornell University, and and the University of Chicago. 900 children in grades 3, 5, and 6 in 10 different cities in the U.S. were analyzed as the researchers looked at the time that working mothers spent on the job from the child’s birth to 6th grade. The biggest differences in BMI seemed to occur as the students got closer to middle school ages. However, it is also easy to see how students of these ages spend a great deal of time on the computer, social networks, video games, and cell phones. All of these things take away from the time spent doing actual physical activity.

So, are we to assume that mothers should just stop working? Absolutely not. In fact, in most cases, this is not a viable alternative. Mothers are encouraged to make healthy meals that can be prepared in advance for those long work days, have a family meal where all family members sit and eat together, and even make sure children are gettting the proper amount of sleep each night. The study is not designed to suggest that mothers should stop working and stay at home, but rather that they must better prepare to make healthier meals for the family while they have time. Let us not forget how important it is for our kids to get plenty of physical activity each day!!!

http://healthland.time.com/2011/02/04/are-working-moms-to-blame-for-childhood-obesity/

Center for Disease Control Announces New Diabetes Estimates

admin — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 02:40:49 +0000

The Center for Disease Control announced new estimates for 2011 regarding people who have diabetes or prediabetes this past Wednesday. It is estimated that over 26 million Americans now have diabetes, while another 79 million have prediabetes. Prediabetes is defined by the CDC as being a condition where blood sugar levels are high, but not quite high enough to be classified as diabetic. While the most common form of diabetes is Type II, we know that one of the number one causes of this type of diabetes is obesity and weight gain. According to Dr. Jacob Warman of the Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York, the rise in diabetes may have another cause besides just obesity. Dr. Warman notes that the American Diabetes Association has actually lowered the guidelines for diagnosing diabetes by using hemoglobin levels to diagnose both diabetes and prediabetes. This could account for some of the rising numbers, while no one can deny that the studies of obesity in America remain valid points.

Perhaps the most concerning fact regarding the new CDC estimates is not the number of Americans who are diabetic, but rather the 7 million people who fall into the category of diabetic and do not even know it yet. National attention is now being given to this alarming epidemic and more education programs are being made readily available to both children and adults. These improvements could mean that people living with diabetes could live longer through proper disease management and a healthier lifestyle. Complications from diabetes include everything from kidney failure to blindness, making it more important than ever for those living with diabetes to learn to manage it properly. Diabetes is the 7th leading cause of death in America, costing the nation$174 billion dollars annually. This is even more reason for us to continue to get the word out about diabetes and prevention. The current trend means that by the year 2050, one in three Americans could be diabetic. The time is now to make a difference.

http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/649276.html?chan=rss_topStories_ssi_5