Kids are struggling with weight issues as they never have before. In fact, more than 15 percent of children ages 6 to 19 are overweight, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Those same kids face greater risks of developing type 2 diabetes, elevated cholesterol levels, and heart disease. They're also more likely to experience depression, anxiety, social isolation, and decreased attendance at school.

To combat this problem, many schools are turning to coordinated school health models to develop healthier students. And that's where Physical Activity and Nutrition for Health comes in.

This book and CD-ROM package will help you promote fitness and nutrition among students and staff, and its nutrition services tools will help you garner support from parents and community members to enhance student success. This package includes

- 60 developmentally appropriate, pilot-tested lessons for fitness and nutrition;

- CD-ROM with 124 reproducibles, including 16 family activities, 45 worksheets, 6 transparencies, 27 exercise cards, 24 food cards, and 6 station cards;

- tools that offer practical ideas for building student health physically, emotionally, and cognitively;

- cross-curricular information that supports other subject areas and is adaptable for various grades;

- multiple assessment techniques; and

- family and community activities.

The lessons are easy to understand and ready to go. In integrating fitness and nutrition concepts as part of a healthy lifestyle, the lessons will help students improve in all components of health-related fitness now while establishing healthy behaviors for the rest of their lives. The lessons are adaptable to involve children with disabilities and include challenges for higher-level and higher-skilled students. All the lesson plans are tied to the WOW! Health Education Series and can be used within that series or on their own.

Section I explores the energy equation, including the calories for energy and the role of the heart and respiratory system in providing energy during exercise. Section II introduces the concept of aerobic activity and presents the FIT principle and the function of carbohydrate and fat as fuel sources for aerobic activities. Section III focuses on improving strength, endurance, and flexibility, and it broadens nutritional knowledge as it relates to weight management and obesity. Section IV emphasizes physical activity and nutrition as parts of a healthy lifestyle.

Physical Activity and Nutrition for Health will help you plan and implement physical education and nutrition education programs that significantly improve health and reinforce standards in health, physical education, mathematics, and science. The fitness elements, nutrition services, and parent involvement tools all address major components of the CDC's coordinated school health model.