News

Kiosks part of fitness initiative

February 20, 2002

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SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - American kids - in part by spending too much time playing computer games - are gaining weight and losing fitness, according to the National School Fitness Foundation (NSFF).

But the NSFF has devised a program, along with IBM (NYSE:IBM) and Stayhealthy Inc., to encourage kids to eat better and exercise more. And hoping that the cause of this problem can also be the cure, the heart of the program is computer technology.

The NSFF, IBM, and Stayhealthy have teamed to create a fitness center that measures the progress kids make in their fitness programs at school. Under the program, the kids work out with equipment donated by the NSFF - a non-profit organization that donated health and recreational equipment to schools - and their progress is measured on a kiosk designed by IBM and utilizing Stayhealthy heart-monitoring and fitness software.

About 50 schools are already taking part in the preliminary stages of the NSFF program. The first kiosks will be installed in January. About a dozen school systems in Iowa, Ohio, Texas, and Utah will take part in the initial program, covering about 10,000 students. Within a year, plans are to introduce the program in another 150 districts nationwide, covering an additional 150,000 students.

"Exercise can be enjoyable and rewarding," Cameron Lewis, NSSF president, said in a news release. "The outcomes we are seeing in the early stages of our program are amazing with the kids feeling better, looking better and certainly having more energy. We're not just trying to get kids to lose weight; we want them to become physically fit and stay that way."

The fitness centers are scheduled to remain open during non-school hours and weekends so students can use the equipment on their free time. Parents are being encouraged to take part in the program.