Healthy Me Week June 4-10 energizes Ontario's families to get fit

• TVO partners with Canadian media organizations to fight childhood obesity

TORONTO, June 1, 2012 /CNW/ - With childhood obesity rates growing at alarming rates, TVO is partnering with media organizations across Canada for Healthy Me Week June 4 to 10 to inspire and motivate Canadian families to take action and embrace healthy, active living.

As Ontario's educational media organization, TVO recognizes the role physical activity plays in the success of kids at school. TVO is a longtime champion of getting kids to be more active through curriculum-based television programs, online campaigns, and in-community events.

However, in its annual Report Card on Physical Activity released Tuesday, Active Healthy Kids Canada assigned an "F" grade in active play and leisure to Canadian kids. According to the Canadian Health Measures Survey, approximately 17 percent of Canadian children and youth are overweight, while 9 percent are obese. For Healthy Me Week, TVOKids, Canada's most trusted and most educational media brand for kids, will utilize its extensive multiplatform resources to raise awareness about the importance of healthy lifestyles and help Ontario's families become more active.

"Media has an important role to play in educating kids and families about healthy lifestyles," says Pat Ellingson, TVO's creative head of children's media. "We're proud to partner with media organizations across Canada on Healthy Me Week and to lend our toolkit of resources to this important cause. For over a decade, TVOKids has been promoting the benefits of a healthy lifestyle to kids and families across the province. Our goal is to inspire and motivate kids to get up, get out and get active, and to encourage them to develop healthy habits that they'll carry into adulthood."

ON TV

The Space - After School
TVO's hosted, live-and-interactive programming block has brought back its popular Million Ways to Move campaign that challenges kids to participate in fun activities that get them moving. Jumping, dancing, playing soccer or just taking a walk: any amount of time spent moving counts towards the Million Minutes of Moving clock. Last year kids across Ontario racked up more than 2 million minutes, many of them while dancing to the catchy Million Ways to Move theme song.

Million Ways to Move role model videos will feature celebrities like Tiny and Slick from the Harlem Globetrotters, The Kratt Brothers, TVOKids' Princess Pea, and Canadian sledge hockey goalie Paul Rosen. There will also be new profiles of kids showing what they do to stay healthy.

Gisèle's Big Back Yard - Preschool
Gisèle and her group of puppet friends in TVOKids' programming block for preschool kids will demonstrate healthy snacks with Chef in the Yard, the fun and value of gardening and growing your own food with Get Growing, and different ways of being active with Animal Actions.

ONLINE

TVOKids.com, will be the online home for the Million Ways to Move campaign where kids can log their minutes to the Million Ways to Move clock.

And at TVOParents.com, TVO's online resource for parents who want to help their kids succeed in school and life, a Health Me Week page will combine archival material with new resources including reports on childhood obesity, nutrition in schools, the connection between health and learning, what children learn from sports, and nature deficit-disorder.

IN THE COMMUNITY

TVO teams up with YMCA inviting families to come out to Healthy Kids Day on Sunday June 3 and help kick off Healthy Me Week. TVOKids hosts Kara Harun and Dalmar Abuzeid will participate in the YMCA's free community event helping to motivate families to embrace healthy habits. Kara will be at the Central YMCA in downtown Toronto at 9:30 am leading family dance classes, and the North York YMCA beginning at 2:30 pm, participating in obstacle courses and having a fun and active time. Dalmar will report on highlights from the day that will appear on TVOKids throughout Healthy Me Week.

About TVO
TVO is Ontario's public educational media organization and a trusted source of interactive educational content that informs, inspires and stimulates curiosity and thought. TVO's vision is to empower people to be engaged citizens of Ontario through educational media. TVO is funded primarily by the Province of Ontario and is a registered charity supported by sponsors and thousands of donors. For more information, visit tvo.org.

Where to Find TVO

On air: Cable channel 2 (may vary in some areas) Bell TV channel 265 TVO HD on Bell Fibe TV channel 1265 Rogers TVO HD channel 580 Rogers-On-Demand channel 100 Shaw Direct channel 353

Websites: tvo.org tvokids.com tvoparents.com     ilc.org

Online: Yahoo! YouTube Rogers-On-Demand-Online         iTunes BlackBerry App World™

Connect: Facebook Twitter

 

 

Media Contact for TVO:
Paul Ginis
TVO Communications and Marketing
416.484.2600 x 2445
[email protected]

Laura Wickett
TVO Communications and Marketing
416.484.2600 x 5550
[email protected]