American Council on Exercise (ACE) Announces New Youth Fitness Initiatives to Support Henkel Helps Get Kids Fit Campaign

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Council on Exercise (ACE), America's leading authority on fitness and the largest fitness certification, education and training organization in the world, has teamed with Henkel, the company behind some of the nation's leading brands such as Dial®, Purex®, Renuzit®, Right Guard®, and Soft Scrub®, to support the company's Henkel Helps Get Kids Fit campaign through the launch of new educational tools on the Youth Fitness section of the ACE Get Fit™ website.  These online resources support the Henkel Helps Get Kids Fit campaign, which was recently launched to address, and help bring more attention to, the growing health and fitness concerns among the nation's youth.

"Childhood obesity has become a critical concern, as have the budget issues faced by schools across the country that have negatively impacted physical education programs," said Scott Goudeseune, ACE president and CEO.  "We continuously strive to educate parents, teachers and ACE-certified fitness professionals on safe and effective physical activities for children, but we also believe it's important to support initiatives such as Henkel Helps Get Kids Fit to further motivate people and encourage them to inspire change in their communities."

According to the National Foundation on Physical Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, over 25 million American children over the age of six are obese or overweight - a five-fold increase in the last 30 years.  As the leading authority on fitness, ACE is proud to offer its exclusive Operation FitKids™ curriculum, which was designed for educators, health and fitness professionals, and parents looking to integrate health and fitness into, and outside of, the classroom.  The free curriculum (a $99.95 value) is composed of two seven-lesson modules - one developed for grades 3-5, and a brand new curriculum geared towards grades 6-8 - both of which teach students the extreme dangers of being overweight and the importance of a healthy and active lifestyle.  In addition to housing the latest Operation FitKids curriculum, the Youth Fitness section of the ACE Get Fit website also features new youth-based resources including Fit Facts, exercise programming, answers to commonly asked questions and kid-friendly recipes.

Henkel Helps Get Kids Fit encourages parents, students, educators and community members to visit http://www.HenkelHelps.com to nominate their local school by answering a fundamental question with inspirational answers: "What Would Your School Do with $25,000 to Improve Youth Fitness?" Essay nominations will be accepted through September 30, 2010. Ten finalists, chosen by Henkel and ACE, will receive a free Flip™ video camera to create a brief video that brings to life the health and fitness issues facing their school and their idea for making the most of the $25,000 prize.  Consumers will vote online at http://www.HenkelHelps.com to select the $25,000 winning school entry. At the same time, consumers can enter the Henkel Helps Get Kids Fit Sweepstakes, where someone will win $5,000 in fitness cash.

"The Henkel campaign falls right in line with our mission to inspire people of all ages to get active so we ultimately become a more-fit America," continued Goudeseune.  "We are proud to support such an initiative and look forward to announcing a winner of the essay in January; however, we hope that the charge of motivating our youth will be carried out by every community."

Operation FitKids is available in an easy-to-download PDF format and is offered as a public service of ACE.  

For more information on ACE and the Henkel Helps Get Kids Fit campaign, please visit http://www.acefitness.org/ofk/default.aspx.  To nominate a school, go online to Henkel's promotion site at http://www.henkelhelps.com/EntertoWin/EntertoWinSchool.aspx.

About the American Council on Exercise

The American Council on Exercise (ACE), America's premier certification, education and training organization, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the benefits of physical activity and protecting consumers against unsafe and ineffective fitness products and instruction. ACE sponsors university-based exercise science research and is the world's largest nonprofit fitness certifying organization. For more information on ACE and its programs, call (800) 825-3636 or log onto the ACE website at www.acefitness.org.

SOURCE American Council on Exercise