Are you and your family as healthy as you can be?

If not, kick off National Health Education Week in October by learning some tips that will start you on your way to a lifetime of good health. Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH®) can help.
Kathy Chichester, National CATCH® Coordinator, remarks, “If you want to improve your health,
and the health of your family, a good way to start is with some basic steps to get you moving in the
right direction. There are easy things that you can do to keep active and ensure that you are
eating and drinking in a way that promotes good health.”

Below are some simple steps from CATCH® that will add up to a big difference in your family’s health. Select the ones that are best for your family and keep it simple:

Let’s Get Active!
• Use the stairs instead of the elevator/escalator
• Keep the TV turned off at meal times
• Limit screen time (TV, video games, computer) to 2 hours per day
• Keep the TV out of the kids’ bedrooms
• Walk together 10 minutes a day at least 3 times a week
• Park the car a bit farther away so that you can walk
• Play outside together after school and work at least 1 day a week
• Plan family time together that includes being physically active such as walking or biking
• Walk or bike on a short trip instead of taking the car
• Walk to school together 1 day a week
• Do household chores together
• Stretch or do yoga while watching TV
Let’s Eat & Drink Healthy!
• Eat together at least once a week
• Eat a fruit or vegetable at every meal
• Eat a fruit or vegetable as a snack every day
• Try not to eat too much fast food

Let’s Eat & Drink Healthy!
• Never supersize unless you are sharing with others
• Buy whole grain bread (whole wheat, bran, oatmeal, multigrain)
• Use small amounts of margarine, butter and salad dressings
• Bake, broil, grill, or microwave meats, fish and poultry.
• Buy less soda for the home
• Drink more water or pure fruit juice
• Drink 1% or skim milk
• Limit foods that have minimal nutritional value

CATCH is a national, evidence based K-5 coordinated school health program that is
designed to promote physical activity and healthy food choices and prevent tobacco use in
elementary school-aged children. The program focuses on classroom curricula, child nutrition
services, physical education and family involvement. In addition to educational materials on
nutrition and physical activity, the national publisher and distributor of the CATCH® Program
resource materials, Flaghouse Inc., offers training, resources and grant-writing guidance.

CATCH began as a research study funded by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute in
1991 to help elementary schools, children and their families adopt healthy eating and physical
activity behaviors. Research teams from the University of Texas-Houston, Tulane University,
University of Minnesota, and the University of California, participated in what is still the largest and most rigorous school-based health promotion trial ever conducted. Today, over 5,000 schools across the United States implement the CATCH® program.

If you are interested in learning more about CATCH, please visit www.CATCHinformation.com, or contact Kathy Chichester at 800-793-7900, x 7518.

CATCH® (Coordinated Approach To Child Health) is an evidence-based, coordinated school health program designed to promote physical activity and healthy food choices and prevent tobacco use in elementary and middle school-aged children. By teaching children that eating healthy and being physically active can be fun, the CATCH Program has proven that healthy habits established in childhood can produce positive and lasting health behavior changes. For more information visit www.CATCHinformation.com.

Media Contact:
Kathy Chichester, National CATCH Coordinator
Ph: 800-793-7900, x 7518
Email: Kathy.Chichester@flaghouse.com