Kids Fitness, Health & Wellness » Other

GoTrybe Receives Most Unique Resource Award!!

admin — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 13:33:22 +0000

GoTrybe is delighted to announce that our organization has received the Most Unique Resource Award from the TOS Homeschool Crew. The TOS Home School Crew Blue Ribbon Awards are given on an annual basis by crew members who are given the opportunity to nominate and vote for their favorite vendors from the current year. The TOS Home School Crew had eighty different vendors this year, so we feel particularly pleased to have been chosen for an award in such heavy competition. Twenty-five vendors were nominated in our category alone! We are proud to have received such an honor and look forward to continuing our friendship with Old Schoolhouse Magazine.

GoTrybe Review – Milk & Honey Mommy

admin — Mon, 23 May 2011 14:14:31 +0000

See the full review at Milk & Honey Mommy. Here is an excerpt…The segments are short enough to keep the children interested and not completely tire them out. Although my children are really active, something their daily play/exercise has missed is a focus on technique. By this I mean, we have not spent much time on the correct form for doing a jumping jack or for doing push-ups which is something we will be concentrating on more. The fitness instructors take the students through the routine and also show them how to do the movements correctly. My kids love doing the palm tree.

Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution

admin — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 00:23:54 +0000

Jamie Oliver, a celebrity chef and health advocate, is on a mission to cure obesity by getting into America’s schools and educating students on healthy foods and eating habits. Oliver produces the show, Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, along with Ryan Seacrest. Cameras follow Oliver into schools as he talks to students and educates them on ways to change unhealthy eating habits and prevent obesity. The first season of the television series focused on the town of Huntington, West Virginia. This city was identified as one of the unhealthiest cities in the United States. Jamie’s second season is set in Los Angeles, California. However, Oliver is facing adversity in the school district so far and has even been banned! While current legislation is attempting to change the foods that students are exposed to in the school cafeteria, it is still easy to see by rising obesity rates that students must change these unhealthy habits at home as well. The first season displayed a nation of students who were unable to identify fruits and vegetables in some cases. This should be alarming to us as parents! Shows like Jamie’s highlight the problem of obesity while educating the world on ways to eat healthy straight from the mouth of a chef.

Beyonce to Join Obesity Fight

admin — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 00:10:10 +0000

Beyonce Knowles, pop singer and Grammy award winning actress, is joining the First Lady in the fight against obesity through the Let’s Move initiative. While it is no secret that Mrs. Obama is a huge advocate for fighting childhood obesity through healthier eating and physical activity, her Let’s Move initiative will definitely benefit from the support of Beyonce. Knowles is releasing a new video, “Let’s Move! Flash Workout”, that uses the music from her hit song called “Get Me Bodied”. The new video will debut in middle schools around the country at a ‘dance-in” on May 3rd, 2011. Beyonce states that she is aiming to encourage physical activity and healthy eating by making it fun for everyone. While there is little doubt that Beyonce will catch the attention of children across the nation with this new video, skeptics wonder if her support will make a difference in the way that kids eat and how often they exercise. One thing remains certain…her new video will create quit a buzz among both male and female teens.

Which Sport is Best for Your Child??

admin — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 16:35:36 +0000

Summer is the perfect time to get your child active and eating healthy. School will be out soon and the kids will be at play. Summer sports leagues are beginning sign-ups and preparing for a summer of fun. Many parents are often left to wonder which sports are age appropriate for their children. While shifting through research on this particular subject, I came across an article from the Mayo Clinic that I found to be helpful to me. According to the latest information from the Mayo Clinic, it is important to keep your child’s maturity and skill level in mind when choosing an appropriate sport. It is recommended that children ages 2-5 stay away from most types of organized sports and be encouraged to play freely. Ages 6-7 are considered the right age to introduce concepts like organized sports teams and teamwork. Sports like T-Ball, soccer, and even swimming can be good choices for this age. By the time your child reaches the age of 8, he/she is ready for almost all sports (including contact sports with the right safety gear).

All things considered, it is entirely possible that you may want your child to become involved with a sport, but he/she may show no interest. This is perfectly ok as there are other activities that encourage physical fitness that may be more rewarding for your child according to his/her interests. Things like bicycling and hiking can be good alternatives and allow you to join your child in the experience. Please take a look at this article from the Mayo Clinic and make an informed decision as to how to best keep your child active through these upcoming months. Programs like GoTrybe encourage physical activity and eating right!!

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fitness/SM00057

GoTrybe Highlighted in Knoxville News Article

admin — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 21:05:11 +0000

Check out this article on knoxnews.com that talks about ways schools are getting kids more interested in fitness and more active on a daily basis in the Knoxville area schools. GoTrybe is proud to have been recognized as a successful program. Thank you goes out to knoxnews.com, Lola Alapo, and Aneisa McDonald for recognizing all of our hard work.

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/mar/01/brown-belt-reporter-kicks-it-with-kids/

The Problem with Calorie Labels

admin — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 00:01:08 +0000

Fast food restaurants around the nation are now placing calorie labels in pure view of consumers for items that appear on their menu due to the massive number of studies showing an increase in childhood obesity, as required by the new health-care reform plan. According to the plan, any restaurant that has twenty locations or more must post these nutriton labels so that consumers may make more informed food choices for themselves and their children. While the idea behind this effort is a great one, I recently came across a study conducted by both the New York University School of Medicine and the Wagner School of Public Service that suggests that these calorie labels may get noticed, but they do not affect the choices that teenagers and parents of small children make. This study looked at 349 fast food restaurants in the low-income areas of New York City and Newark, New Jersey both before the labels were required and after. Suprisingly enough, 57% of teenagers admitted to noticing the labels before they ordered, but only 9% took this information into account when they placed an order. Perhaps another alarming statistic in the study showed that parents of younger children only chose meals that were 15 calories left when nutrition labels were present. While I must admit that this study is very small in nature and can not be held as a nation-wide guide, the fact that 35% of teens actually reported eating out as much as six times a week shows how important studies like these truly are. I would love to see more research done in this area.

After contemplating this study, I must wonder why exactly these labels are not having more of an effect and what can be done to help consumers make healthier choices. It is obvious that certain menu items have more appeal due to their low cost since so many of our families are struggling to make ends meet in this economy. Can restaurants do more to lower the cost of healthier food options for all and should this be a part of our health-care reform? I certainly think that this is something worth looking into for the sake of our nation and its citizens.

Please visit the following link to take a look at this study.

http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=649874

Obesity May Affect Mental Health in Adolescents

admin — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 01:57:06 +0000

Dr. Christine Calamaro from the University of Maryland School of Nursing suggests that diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol may not be the only health issues for parents to worry about in the fight against childhood obesity. According to a study conducted by Calamaro, mental health may become a concern for adolescents who are obese. While research has effectively shown a link between sleep deprivation and obesity, as covered in a previous blog entry, the real question may well be what causes this lack of sleep in the first place? Calamaro led a study of over 13,000 teens ranging in age from 12-18. Oddly enough, the research showed that teens who received six hours of sleep or less were no more likely to be obese than those who were actually getting more sleep. This conflicts with studies that suggest that obese children are more likely to be the ones getting less sleep at night. However, a reoccuring trend did appear from this research, published in the Journal of Sleep Research. According to the research led in part by Calamaro, there was an association between sleep deprivation of teens and depression. These depressed teens were almost twice as likely to be obese, suggesting that depression and sleep deprivation play a combined role in the effects of obesity on adolescents. This research is considerably alarming when we consider just how many more adolescents are obese now than they were 10 years ago. If mental health is affected by obesity in teens, we know this is an issue that needs to be addressed as depression can lead to suicide among other things. Perhaps the best way to protect your adolescent from the dangers of obesity is to do everything possible to prevent it in the first place, including encouraging healthy eating habits and physical activity. GoTrybe continues to follow this research and strives to put an end to childhood obestity for good.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/216566.php

GoTrybe Participates in Fairmont Elementary School Health Fair

admin — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 17:48:46 +0000

GoTrybe participated in a health fair that took place immediately following the February PTA meeting at Fairmont Elementary School in Johnson City. This health fair was coordinated by the physical education teacher at the school, Mrs. Patricia Grooms, who has been known for her efforts to get kids moving and keep them active. Mrs. Grooms is an energetic woman who promotes physical activity and a healthy lifestyle by setting an example for her students. The health fair was set up in the gymnasium and consisted of booths that featured an essential question regarding fitness. Students and parents visited each booth to learn more about their numbers (Body Mass Index, blood pressure, weight, and even waistline measurements). Coordinated School Health assisted with helping students and parents become familiar with their health numbers, GoTrybe set up a booth that explained our program and helped students learn to use it at home, and a number of health care representatives were there to show what a healthy meal should consist of. Healthy snacks were provided to all participants, as well as a free pedometer to each individual who visited all of the booths. Parents, students,and teachers were all excited to learn about their health and ways to improve it. GoTrybe was able to provide important information for parents so that students could not only enjoy the program at school, but also reap its benefits at home with their parents.

GoTrybe would like to congratulate Fairmont Elementary School and its principal, Carol McGill, on their recent nomination as a Blue Ribbon School. Fairmont also won its division at the 2010 Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning, to which GoTrybe is also a supporter. We look forward to continuing to work with Fairmont and see the expansion of the school upon the completion of the new school building sometime this fall. Good work team!!

The American Stroke Association Reports Fast Rise in Strokes for Young and Middle-Aged

admin — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 15:13:25 +0000

The American Stroke Association highlighted the results of the first nationwide study of hospitalizations due to stroke according to the age of the victim. These results were released at a conference on Wednesday held by the ASA. After comparing research from 1994 & 1995 to that of 2006 & 2007, there was a 51% increase in stroke patients between the ages of 15 through 34. Although this rise is not all that suprising due to the increase in obesity among younger people, it is eye-popping when you consider that this is a good indication that the obesity epidemic is shifting the age of diseases to those among the young and middle-age! Dr. Ralph Sacco, the American Heart Association president, states that researchers have worried for a while that the increase in childhood obesity would cardiovascular diseases to begin at an earlier age than before. This study appears to suggest just that. While older people still account for the largest number of stroke victims, the largest rise was among the younger age groups. In the older age groups, the prevelance of strokes actually dropped 25% in men and 28% in women over the past few years. Doctors report seeing more and more strokes in young people due to high blood pressure and cholesterol than ever before! Many of these cases go untreated due to the age of the patient and therefore lead to stroke and heart disease quicker. More studies will be conducted in this area as organizations like our own continue the fight against childhood obesity.

http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/ap/us_med_stroke_younger_victims