The Walk On! Challenge is a fun, educational program designed to motivate fifth-graders across Arizona to make healthy choices in the fight against obesity. It’s FREE to fifth-grade teachers in schools across Arizona and takes place throughout the month of February.
When fifth-grade teachers register for the program, they are committing to implementing Walk On! in their classrooms for the month of February. This includes encouraging their students on a daily basis to remember to track their activities and providing opportunities throughout the day to help students meet their goals.
When fifth-graders accept the Walk On!Challenge, they are agreeing to track how many minutes they exercise, how many fruits and vegetables they eat, how much screen time they get and how many sweetened drinks they have every day in the month of February.
Their goal every day is 5-2-1-0:
- 5 – Eat five fruits and vegetables every day
- 2 – Limit screen time (TV, video games, computers) to two hours or less per day
- 1 – Get at least one hour of physical activity each day
- 0 – Avoid sweetened drinks, filling up on water instead
The 5-2-1-0 formula provides a memorable way of learning the healthy habits essential to avoiding childhood obesity, a health problem facing one-third of all children in Arizona.
This program is provided to schools at no cost on behalf of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona. PLUS participating fifth-grade teachers from qualified schools will also have the chance to win one of five $5,000 grants for their school from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona.
Thank you to all the teachers for your participation and encouragement of your fifth-graders.