AFN Launches School Fitness Challenge

AFN Launches School Fitness Challenge

Friday, October 02, 2009 at 12:28

Teachers in First Nations schools across the country are being urged to sign their classes up for an Assembly of First Nations fitness challenge.

The AFN is asking participating students to take part in teams and to engage in 30 minutes of physical activity a day, in 10-minute intervals.

Top performers will have their names entered into a draw for prizes, and the winners will be announced at the AFN’s special chiefs assembly in December.

AFN Women’s Council chair Kathleen McHugh says the challenge runs from Oct. 15 to the middle of November, but she’s hoping this campaign helps Aboriginal young people make fitness a lifelong practice.

“We’re hoping that we get a very good response, and it’s just the beginning for them. It may wrap up on the 14th of November, but the hope is that they will continue — that this is just the beginning to help them change to healthier habits,” McHugh says.

She says the prevalence of diabetes in the First Nations population is the main reason why this initiative is being launched.