Welcome to the Boston Drive 2 Fitness Blog!

Fitness Forward is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to lead youth to live well.  Integrating scientifically grounded evidence, web-based technologies, and targeted social marketing, we aim to reverse the dangerous rise in childhood obesity, diabetes, and mental illness.  We envision a day when all children, regardless of background or circumstance, will grow up with the knowledge, motivation, and tools to live healthier, happier lives.

Here at Fitness Forward we've been trying to think of ways to share our stories and we have come up with this online journal of sorts.  We plan to use this space to share what we are doing both nationally and here in Boston where we have our headquarters.  

I'd like to take a moment to introduce our Drive 2 Fitness program.

The Drive 2 Fitness program educates and rewards fitness and health among youth.  Although primarily for children, teachers and parents affiliated with elementary and middle schools, the program can be used in any setting to motivate fun and healthy living by community members.

The Drive 2 Fitness promotes that participants aspire to these actions on a daily basis:

• Engaging in 1 hour or more of physical activity per day
• Limiting daily TV/video game viewing to 1 hour or less
• Getting a full night’s rest-- at least 9 hours of sleep in a night for youth, and at least 7 for adults
• Not drinking beverages with additional sugar added; (rather, go for water, 1% or less reduced fat milk and occasional low natural sugar 100% fruit drinks instead)
• Eating 5-9 fruits and vegetables each day
  

Research indicates that adoption of these behaviors leads to decreased risk for obesity and disease in the present and future, increased academic achievement, and improved self -esteem.

How it works:

Children can either be registered by participating schools or by parents. If a child is already enrolled, parents can link up with their child’s account upon registration.  Currently, only participating regions offer rewards through school-based programs. However, now matter where you’re located, you can still use the system, and reward yourself or your children in healthy ways for earning D2F points.  Children earn 1 D2F point for each behavior completed each day.  Points are earned on a daily basis and verified by a parent's or teacher's signature.  We recommend tracking points each day when you log in to your account. Alternatively, children may log their points themselves, and parents can verify them at different intervals. Scorecards can also be printed to allow tracking on paper, before transferring the information to you d2f.org account.  Parents, teachers, school administrators and other mentors are encouraged to track their daily D2F Points, to act as good role models for the children.

For more information check out our websites:

www.fitnessforward.org

www.drive2fitness.org

My name is Ann Church and I'm the Boston Program Coordinator here at Fitness Forward.  This summer I'll be heading up our programming here in Boston with the help of my wonderful intern, Kim Kirshon.  We'll be starting with a pilot at O'Donnell elementary to see if we can keep kids interested through the summer when school is not in session and then working with area summer programs until we kick-off at 10-15 elementary schools next fall.