School Education Market
Obesity and Physical Activity in Schools:
Childhood obesity continues to plague our society, and finding a solution seems to be a complex and difficult task. The two known modifiable risk factors for obesity are diet and exercise. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), our children are simply not getting enough physical activity in their daily routines.
There are many factors that contribute to this decline in exercise, including a decrease in recess and physical education classes offered in schools and an increase in sedentary activities such as television viewing, computer use and playing video games. Technology has been an enemy for many physical activity advocates, as these electronic gizmos continue to attract and fascinate our youngsters, keeping them from engaging in activities that promote physical activity.
Recently, a new genre of video games has emerged that offers a new approach to gaming through physical activity. Simply stated, players become a “human joystick,” using their bodies to control the actions on the screen. This innovative approach to physical activity is called Active Gaming, and its popularity is spreading rapidly across the nation in health clubs, recreation centers and schools.
Why Active Gaming Works in Schools:
Active Gaming is not a replacement for PE, rather a healthy and engaging add-on to existing PE classes in the school format. As we all know, videogames are fun and engaging for kids so our goal is to keep them focused on physical activity, competitive play, and educate them on the importance of nutrition and healthy lifestyle in and out of the classroom. Implementing active gaming will create a positive culture change within your school and offer kids a cutting-edge way of staying fit as an additional piece to your PE program. As we have seen before, kids cannot wait to be apart of this program and they will tell you that it is their favorite part of their day.
While physical education has been drastically cut back across the country — in response to budget concerns and test score pressures — Naperville Central High School, in the Chicago suburbs, has embraced a culture of fitness: PE is a daily, graded requirement. And for one group of struggling students, there’s an innovative program to schedule PE right before their most challenging classes. In the six years since that program started, students who signed up for PE directly before English read on average a half year ahead of those who didn’t, and students who took PE before math showed dramatic improvement in their standardized tests.
Click the video to view “A Physical Education in Naperville”
Original Source: Need to Know on PBS
Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know.
Customized Active Gaming PE Programs for Schools:
Programming is key when it comes to the longevity of making healthy changes in your community. We highly support and implement the top programming initiatives when it comes to making Active Gaming a huge add-on to your already daily fitness programs.
Our programs are based on the most recent guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Heart Association and is aligned with the Center for Disease Control curriculum suggestions for health and nutrition.
SPARK: “The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain”
SPARK Exercise and Learning / Active Academics:
Have you ever read the book SPARK: “The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain” developed by Dr. John Ratey MD? Well SPARK is a ground-breaking exploration of the connection between exercise and the brain’s performance that shows how even moderate exercise will supercharge mental circuits to beat stress, sharpen thinking, enhance memory, and much more.
Spark is fueling a movement to re-engineer school practices and medical recommendations to establish curriculum, lifestyles and corporate practices based on scientific principles. Providing the scientific foundation and research data, Dr Ratey has been drafted into the groundswell of those whose mission it is to revitalize schools, combat the obesity crisis, stave off the encroaching epidemic of Sedentarism, by returning to evolutionary principles of physical exercise and proper diet thereby combating syndrome X, the underlying causation of much chronic disease.
Spark is fueling a movement to re-engineer school practices and medical recommendations to establish curriculum, lifestyles and corporate practices based on scientific principles. Providing the scientific foundation and research data, Dr Ratey has been drafted into the groundswell of those whose mission it is to revitalize schools, combat the obesity crisis, stave off the encroaching epidemic of Sedentarism, by returning to evolutionary principles of physical exercise and proper diet thereby combating syndrome X, the underlying causation of much chronic disease.
“Dr. Ratey’s work is going to save physical education, by reforming it. Exercise and the youth of this generation will be the vanguard that will lead the nation back to health.” The late Phil Lawler, Architect of the Naperville PE Project.
The Benefits of Active Gaming in Schools:
- We offer affordable solutions including grant/funding assistance for schools.
- Active Gaming is a proven and exciting way to offer students an engaging way to stay active during the school day.
- Our products and custom programs are designed to help the PE teacher continue to make gym an exciting part of the day.
- Enhancement in the areas of academic performance, fitness, behavior, school attendance, sports performance.
- Sports specific training programs using active gaming products as a tool to existing training methods.
- We have products and programs that will fit in any size room or location at your school.
- Heart rate and data tracking tools perfect for child assessment and reporting tools in your community.
- Nutrition education as an add-on to active gaming implementation. Teaching kids the benefits of eating healthy.
- Active Gaming products for all ages and abilities including beginners, athletes and special needs.
- Parents and Administrators will love seeing the positive health benefits of Active Gaming to share with the community.
- We include parent “take home programming” so that children have programs they can bring to their parents for in-home fitness.
School Fundraising and Finances:
We know funds are tough to accumulate but we specifically help you with fundraising techniques including “product showcase events” and other programs to raise money for your school to implement active gaming. We also offer affordable financing and grant assistance to help you raise the capital you need. We work closely with communities where funds are tough to come by. Let us do all the work for you!