SPRI Participates in the National Health Through Fitness Day

“The facts about physical activity levels in the U.S. are startling: recess has been eliminated in many schools, less than 10% of U.S. schools have daily physical education classes for their students, 46% of high school students receive no physical education, and the military is struggling to find recruits in tip-top shape. To reverse that negative trend, a delegation of physical activity proponents met today with members of Congress in Washington, D.C. to talk about what can be done to ‘Get America Moving.’ ‘The sports and fitness industry has been influential in demonstrating that physical activity is the foundation for a healthy nation,” said Tom Cove, SGMA’s president. ‘PEP will help give Americans of all ages an opportunity to learn about the importance of physical fitness in their daily lives. PHIT will help encourage physical activity by making it more affordable and available. Adults need regular exercise and the PHIT Act will help them achieve that goal.’ ‘PEP helps finance a new way to approach P.E. for children and PHIT encourages physically active lifestyles by making sports, fitness and recreational activities more affordable,’ said Bill Sells, SGMA’s vice president of government relations.’ ‘This issue will help the new Administration’s focus on preventative health care,’ said Ron Sutton of Accusplit. ‘We are the right industry with the right message points at the right time to have reduce overall health care costs.’ ‘We have to change the national consciousness on this issue,’ said NFL veteran linebacker Chris Draft (Rams). ‘The connection between good health and being effective in the classroom or the workplace is undeniable.’ ‘The PHIT Bill and PEP work hand in hand on this issue,’ said Colleen Logan of ICON Health & Fitness. ‘PEP can help keep children active through high school, while PHIT can help make physical activity expenses more affordable for adults.’ Anybody who was unable to attend National Health Through Fitness Day can get involved in this advocacy effort by contacting their local U.S. Representative and their two U.S. Senators to express their interest in seeing both pieces of legislation get passed.”

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