C.H.E.F.®’s FUEL™ Series Takes Off Nationwide to Fight Childhood Obesity

Comprehensive Health Education Foundation (C.H.E.F.®), developer of the most widely used prevention curricula in the United States, announced that its innovative, new FUEL™ series on childhood obesity has been acquired by school districts nationwide since its launch five months ago. The FUEL series is the first educational video series to address the obesity epidemic through the eyes of today’s American teens, and it makes childhood obesity relevant and compelling by focusing on kids talking to kids about making healthy choices.

SEATTLE, WA (PRWEB) April 18, 2006 – Comprehensive Health Education Foundation (C.H.E.F.®), developer of the most widely used prevention curricula in the United States, announced that its innovative, new FUEL™ series on childhood obesity has been acquired by school districts nationwide since its launch five months ago. The FUEL series is the first educational video series to address the obesity epidemic through the eyes of today’s American teens, and it makes childhood obesity relevant and compelling by focusing on kids talking to kids about making healthy choices.
    
Since the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared in 2001 that “obesity is the most common health problem facing children today,” educators, parents, kids, and numerous other key stakeholders have begun to take action to address this important issue. To date, C.H.E.F.’s FUEL series is being used in one or more school districts in 26 states across the nation: Alaska, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Washington, Wisconsin, and West Virginia.
    
According to Debra Keene Bergeron, Vice President of C.H.E.F., “Based on the extremely enthusiastic response and warm reception that schools across the nation are giving to the FUEL series, it is clear that the need to meaningfully address the childhood obesity epidemic within the classroom is being universally felt and acted upon. The School and Community Nutrition Program at The Maryland State Department of Education is one such example, having recently purchased the FUEL series for each of their twenty-four county-based school districts statewide. Funding for the purchase came from a Team Nutrition Grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service.”
    
In Cupertino, California, junior high school teacher Chris Heumann said, "As my students began to look at the issues around rising obesity rates, FUEL inspired them to take action in positive ways to change their own lives and health, and to influence change in their communities and beyond.”
    
“As a nonprofit organization whose mission is focused on improving the health of our nation’s youth, we’re thrilled that schools have purchased the FUEL series to address the issue of obesity,” said Larry Clark, C.H.E.F.’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Based on feedback we’ve received from administrators, educators, and students around the country, the FUEL series is perceived to be a substantive, credible, relevant, and user-friendly educational product that is beginning to help kids make positive changes in their lives.”        
    
About the FUEL™ Series
    
Targeted to kids ages 10-18, the FUEL series is an edgy, upbeat, and powerful series that encourages positive teen activism as a way of addressing the important issues of healthy eating, body image, physical activity, self-esteem, and the media. Instead of preaching to teens about a need for change, the FUEL series profiles what real teens are doing to address obesity and make positive changes in their lives and the world around them. The four-part series includes the titles Skin Deep, Energy for Action, The Perfect Machine, and Taking on the World. Each FUEL Educator’s Module includes a VHS and DVD video plus a full curriculum complete with lessons and small-group projects. The FUEL series is also available for home use in a version that includes a DVD and discussion booklet.
    
About Comprehensive Health Education Foundation
    
Founded in 1974, Seattle-based Comprehensive Health Education Foundation (C.H.E.F.®) is dedicated to promoting health and quality of life through education, addressing such important topics as childhood obesity, stress, and other unhealthy behaviors. As a nationally known nonprofit organization, C.H.E.F. develops a variety of health promotion and prevention education programs and products targeted to the early childhood, school-aged youth, and healthy aging markets. For information about C.H.E.F.’s new FUEL series designed to fight childhood obesity, please visit http://fuel.chef.org. For C.H.E.F.’s other products and programs, please visit www.chef.org or call 1.800.323.2433.

###