KID HEALTHY-Steps to Healthy Living Kicks Off 2010 Campaign to Make Southern California Kids and Families Healthier

The following was released today by KID HEALTHY-Steps to Healthy Living:

WHEN: Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 2:30 pm

WHERE: 186th Street Elementary School, 1581 W 186th St., Gardena 90248

WHO: KID HEALTHY-Steps to Healthy Living Campaign

LAUSD Beyond the Bell Youth Services

Kaiser Permanente

And 200 4th and 5th graders from 186th Street Elementary School

VISUALS: 4th and 5th Graders will challenge themselves and their adults to walk 10,000 steps

Students, parents, teachers and sponsors of the KID HEALTHY-Steps to Healthy Living will kick off the 2010 campaign to combat childhood obesity with what is the first of many daily 10,000 step walks. More than 100,000 4th and 5th grade students in Southern California -- with 30,000 coming from Los Angeles Unified School District -- will also be keeping food logs, tracking their steps with pedometers from Kaiser Permanente and taking home workbooks with ideas to encourage the rest of their families to make healthy food choices and increase their physical activities.

The KID HEALTHY Nutrition Education Material and Activity Plan closely mirrors First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move Campaign. KID HEALTHY was founded by ABC7 and is supported by a coalition of 20 public and private local non-profit volunteers, state and county agencies and corporate sponsors, including the Los Angeles Unified School District's Youth Services and Beyond the Bell after-school programs. The campaign is implemented in elementary schools with assistance from the Network for a Healthy California -- Children's PowerPlay! Campaign. Since 1994, Kaiser Permanente has contributed more than $1 million in grants to fund the KID HEALTHY educational campaign for Southern California children.