The Coca-Cola Company and its major bottlers today announced Live It!(TM), a new health and fitness initiative designed to help students build healthy lifestyles by encouraging physical activity as part of their daily lives and providing nutrition information in schools. Developed in collaboration with The President’s Challenge, a program of The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, the School Nutrition Association, and the National Association for Sport & Physical Education, the new campaign features inspirational figures, including six-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, to promote healthy eating and physical activity. The announcement coincides with National Physical Fitness and Sports Month (May).
The Live It! program is currently being tested in key markets and will be available to sixth graders in middle schools across the United States in the fall of 2005.
Program components include:
1. Endorsing Healthy Lifestyles: Schools will be given “Live It!” posters
for the cafeteria and school, featuring inspirational figures endorsing
proper nutrition, physical activity and balanced lifestyles.
2. Encouraging Daily Physical Activity: Students will receive a personal
Stepometer(TM), a student activity guide to log their steps,
and activity cards that suggest fun ways to achieve 10,000 steps
daily. Whether students are running, dancing, stepping or walking, the
idea is to make physical activity fun even for those who aren’t
involved in athletics.
3. Emphasizing Healthy Choices: Students will receive activity cards that
provide food tips for each day, helping them choose their meals and
snacks according to the new Dietary Guidelines. For example, a tip
from the milk and grain groups suggests students try a whole grain
cereal with low fat milk for a snack rich in vitamins, minerals and
fiber.
“There are many factors at play in helping our young people build balanced lifestyles,” says Don Knauss, president of Coca-Cola North America. “Because of our long-time partnership with America’s schools, Coca-Cola wants to play a positive and effective role in helping to promote healthy, active lifestyles among students nationwide.” Live It! is expected to reach more than two million sixth graders when it is implemented this fall. The program builds on the success of The Coca-Cola Company’s Step With It!(TM) program, which has reached more than one million kids to date. Live It! expands on Step With It! by adding a new focus on tips for healthy food choices based on elements of the revised U.S. Dietary Guidelines.
Participating schools will be offered posters featuring Live It! celebrities offering their personal tips on how to incorporate physical activity and healthy eating into everyday life. In addition, the program features Lance Armstrong in a short school video explaining the program and its importance for students. “Proper nutrition and physical activity in our schools are vital components in teaching young people how to maintain a healthy lifestyle for the long-term,” says Barbara Belmont, executive director, school nutrition association. “The School Nutrition Association is proud to be collaborating on the “Live It!” program with The Coca-Cola Company and other national organizations that care about the health and well-being of our student population.”
