For Immediate Release ------- 3/1/2004 Printable Copy

Press Contact: John Sarno Phone: (212) 420-1308

TEQUESTA, Fl, March 1, 2004 – The National Coalition for a Healthy America (NCHA), in collaboration with i 4 Learning and its Wellness, Academics, & You (WAY) program, have announced the inauguration of an extensive fitness, nutrition and wellness initiative for home-schooled Alaskan children. Co-sponsored and implemented by the Galena City School District, this effort will combine a pedometer-based, conceptually tailored walking program with individualized, Web-supplied prevention education and nutrition programs.

“We see obesity going up in Alaska – like it is almost everywhere else,” noted Leroy Grant of the Galena City School District and its Interior Distance Education of Alaska (IDEA) Home Schooling Correspondence Program. “To counteract the trend, we want to establish a regimen that encourages lifelong cardiovascular health.”

Children from Point Barrow to Anchorage, and from Fairbanks to Nome will participate, utilizing NCHA pedometer programs that enable users to calculate their daily step count and facilitate steady, incremental improvements in fitness levels. Unlike some other walking-based fitness programs, the NCHA program inherently provides trackable data for analysis by the academic and physician communities.

The WAY program components for the home-based audience comprise a series of Web-based resources that help parents learn about how to discuss wellness and nutrition with their children – as well as outfitting the children with a prevention education portfolio to help them realize their fitness and nutrition goals.

“There’s a war waged against obesity every day in the United States, and we’re in the thick of it” said Gary Yarusso, newly appointed executive director of the NCHA. “We hope programs like the one to be introduced in Alaska will yield the kind of positive results we’re seeing from similar efforts to combat the country’s No. 1 public health problem.”

The WAY program, part of a series in its third year of providing such school/health-related initiatives, endeavors above all to augment children’s critical thinking skills regarding their health. Its conceptual, computer-centric model is ideal for a context such as that imposed by the Alaskan climate.

“One doesn’t have to be in a gym or outdoors on a football field to learn to make informed, healthy decisions about exercise or nutrition,” said Sam Spiegel, Ph.D., director of research and development at i 4 Learning. “Interior settings can provide ample opportunity for children to make the right decisions about these issues. And, our computerized program enables them to create virtual images of themselves – replete with a virtual kitchen that encourages a healthy nutrition schematic.”

The National Coalition for a Healthy America (NCHA) is a non-profit corporation established to combat the growing obesity epidemic and its related conditions. The mission of the NCHA is to work in concert with state and local governments, non-profit organizations and institutions to develop and implement broad-based walking and fitness initiatives that increase public awareness of healthy lifestyles.

To reach these ends, the NCHA has developed a variety of programs that use walking to promote physical activity. Throughout school, community and corporate initiatives, it has become apparent that tailored walking programs can successfully mitigate the effects of a sedentary lifestyle. Such walking programs, though simple in concept, have had a dramatic impact on the health and fitness of the participants.

“The NCHA believes that one static, monolithic program or fitness philosophy does not serve the needs of a desperately overweight nation,” said Yarusso. “Instead, we’re committed to working with each community or group on an individual basis, and helping them implement a program that serves their needs.”

In a recent Philadelphia program, The Mayor’s Office of Health & Fitness in that city helped sponsor a walking program that featured 32 diabetic Philadelphia residents participating in a walking/nutrition program. An estimated 95 percent of these participants were also suffering from obesity when they began the initiative. Utilizing NCHA pedometers, nearly all of the participants (after four weeks in the program) improved their cardiovascular health to the degree that they were able to reduce their insulin and oral medication intake by as much as 50 percent.

In addition to i 4 Learning and WAY, other partners in NCHA initiatives around the nation include The Walker’s Warehouse; the Mayor’s Office of Health & Fitness office in Philadelphia; Mary Lou Charland of the Honeoye School District of greater Rochester, NY; the Memorial Healthcare System of Hollywood, FL; Nova Southeastern University of Broward County, FL, and the New Haven (CT) Family Alliance.

For more information on the range of programs offered by i 4 learning and WAY, please contact Dr. Spiegel at 866-532-7640, Email spiegel@i4learning.com, or visit their website at www.i4learning.com. For more information about becoming a sponsor of the NCHA, or implementing a walking program, please call Gary Yarusso at (877) 843-2358, or visit their website at www.forahealthyamerica.org.