Operation Fit Kids
With more than 30 percent of children ages six to 11 being
overweight, and over 15 percent obese, I have taken a personal pledge to make a
difference. Since the tender age of two
I have always been active and healthy and I wish the same for others. It is shocking that nearly 50 percent of all young
people ages 12 – 21 are not vigorously active on a daily basis. The life
expectancy of today’s teens is less than their parents. Our children’s health
is at risk due to this lack of fitness, which causes many more health issues
such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and/or low self-esteem.
Operation Fit Kids is my platform designed to help children understand how
important daily fitness and good nutrition are. My mission will be impressing
upon them that establishing healthy eating and physical habits when they are
young is the key to a long, healthy life.
I am promoting my platform in a variety of ways, which includes
speaking engagements, television and radio interviews, email messages, my blog, rachelspurling.blogspot.com, my website, www.rachelspurling.com ,and
my Fitness Fun Day events for kids. Here is a list of some of the things I am
doing:
· Fitness
Fun Day for Kindergarten to 5th grade Students
· Speaking
in classrooms from Kindergarten – 8th graders
· Speaking
to parents about the importance of childhood fitness habits
· Co-teaching
a young girls jazz class
· Coaching
an elementary school cheer club
· Volunteering
for 5K events for Men, Women and Children
· Teaching
classes on how to create healthy snacks
· Speaking
on the local cable channel about exercise and healthy eating habits
· Maintaining
my blog with health and fitness ideas and encouragement
I have spoken to over 1200 kids in dozens of classrooms in
nine different elementary schools in my area about the fun ways to exercise,
eating healthy, and getting enough sleep. Elementary aged children really look
up to teenagers, so hearing me talk about my platform gives extra credence to a
teacher’s lessons on health. Designing, planning, marketing and organizing a
Fitness Fun Day for the youth in elementary schools to explore different
fitness activities and discover the advantages of working out in a fun way is a
rewarding challenge. My proudest moment came when I received a letter from a
little girl saying how much fun she had at the event and that she and her
sister were making their own Fitness Fun Day at home.
In addition to my personal platform, I have embraced the
national MAOT platform for Children’s Miracle Network. This has been so much
fun supporting these events. From the local Secret Elf Toy Drive, to the MU
Children’s Hospital Winter Wonderland, the Pancake Day at IHOP and the local
Radio-thon, I have found these events to be rewarding ways to help out with
this organization right here in my community. I also donated 100% of the funds
raised for my Fitness Fun Day to CMNH. This accumulated to more than $5000.
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