Dem Partners With Olympic Gold Medalist To Fight Childhood Obesity

Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) and Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson announced the “Shawn Johnson Fitness for Life Act” on Wednesday to combat childhood obesity.

“Shawn Johnson has inspired countless young Iowans with her Olympic success,” Braley told reporters. “She’s inspired me with her work as an advocate for improved physical fitness. That’s why naming this bill the Shawn Johnson Fitness for Life Act is such a fitting tribute.”

The Center for Disease reports that one in every four Iowa children is obese or overweight. Such unhealthy lifestyles lead to heart disease and Type 2 diabetes, which becomes a tremendous burden on the healthcare system.

The bill would provide grants to 10 new physical education master programs selected by the Department of Education that would emphasize the use of technology and innovation in their teaching and encourage students to be physically active outside of the classroom. More and more technological equipment is becoming available to help monitor one’s exercise to determine the best physical fitness routine for each individual. By utilizing such equipment in schools, educators can better tailor activities to individual students’ physical levels.

“Expanding technology use in PE class will make fitness more engaging for kids and more effective, teaching students how to stay active and combat childhood obesity,” Braley remarked.

“To me, this is about finding new opportunities to get young people excited about fitness and exercise,” Johnson told reporters. “Kids of all ages use technology in their lives every day, from video games to iPods to cellphones. Using technology in PE class is the obvious next step, an opportunity to make exercise more fun for young people.”

Johnson, who won one gold and three silver medals in gymnastics at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, has advocated for exercise and physical fitness for a long time. Johnson met Braley in March when she was on Capitol Hill lobbying for the Paralympics and discovered a mutual interest in exposing students to the fun aspect of physical education.

“I am so passionate about trying to get kids active, trying to get them healthy and really enjoying physical activity,” Johnson told reporters. “You see in schools nowadays [that] PE is the worst thing to a kid. They hate PE, they don’t want to go to class, they don’t want to be a part of it. This is a wrongdoing on the teacher’s part for making it that way.”

“[The Shawn Johnson Fitness for Life Act] is the perfect next step to make fitness and exercise a part of kids’ lifestyles,” Johnson continued. “You see how much they [kids] enjoy being a part of the technology side of things and if you can incorporate that into exercise and physical activity, hopefully that can spark their interest enough to take the next step to leading a healthier lifestyle.”

Click here to read more about the bill.