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SelectHealth Creates Program to Encourage Fitness Among Fourth-Grade Students

Posted on: Tuesday, 23 September 2008, 18:00 CDT

A handful of elementary schools in the Granite School District are implementing a unique wellness program created by SelectHealth. Designed for fourth-grade students, the SelectHealth STEP Express program encourages children to be more active and healthy through classroom lesson plans, nutrition education, physical activity tracking, and fitness challenges. The STEP Express comprehensive, eight-week format includes easy-to-implement lessons that cover the state core curriculum and assessments that reward student participation.

STEP Express is being introduced at five elementary schools in Granite School District this fall as a pilot program. It is anticipated the program will be introduced to all 60 elementary schools in the district next year.

Childhood obesity is an epidemic spreading across the country. In fact, about 22 percent* of elementary school students in Utah are overweight or at risk of becoming overweight, according to the Utah Department of Health. SelectHealth is partnering with the Granite School District in an effort to slow these trends.

"If children can develop healthy habits while they are young, it can benefit them when they are older," said Eric Cannon, Pharm.D., director of Pharmacy and Health and Wellness at SelectHealth. "At SelectHealth, we are continually looking for unique ways to encourage healthy lifestyles for our members and those in the community," he said.

"Healthy kids make better students. Children who are active are more likely to have improved concentration, earn higher grades, sleep better, lose weight, and have good moods. Children should participate in at least 60 to 90 minutes daily," Cannon said.

SelectHealth is a nonprofit health insurance company serving members in Utah and Idaho. Celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2008, SelectHealth is recognized as the first commercial health plan in Utah to receive "Excellent" Accreditation status by the National Committee for Quality Assurance. SelectHealth is committed to helping members stay healthy, offering superior service, and providing access to the highest quality of care. As a subsidiary of Intermountain Healthcare(R) based in Salt Lake City, SelectHealth is part of one of the nation's top-ranked integrated health systems (Modern Healthcare 02/08). For more information, please visit www.selecthealth.org.

*Utah Department of Health. The Utah Blueprint to Promote Healthy Weight for Children, Youth and Adults. 2006.

Source: Business Wire

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