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New Jersey Citizens Challenged to Get Fit (NJ)

www.nj.gov/getfitnj

New Jersey's Acting Governor Richard J. Codey has challeneged the state's citizens to engage in six weeks of regular physical activity to earn a certificate of recognition. Perhaps as importantly, the state has made a small collection of key resources on family fitness, nutrition and heath accessible in one place online.

The GetFitNJ Challenge

Requirements for earning a certificate are simple:

• For participants over 18 year of age, 30 minutes a day of any exercise for 5 days a week for six consecutive weeks.
• Those under 18 need to exercise 60 minutes a day.

Participants just choose a username and password and log in their activities on an easy chart which keeps track of their progress.

GetFitNJ provides incentives in the form of tutorials about health, recipes, and tips for family exercise.

See How Healthy and Fit You Are

You've heard of the Body Mass Index, but have you ever calculated your own? A page from the US Department of Health and Human Services; Centers for Disease Control gives you a simple table for calculating your BMI with one click, and explains what it all means.

How long does a child have to bike to burn the calories in a bottle of soda? You can see how well you understand the relationship between nutrition and exercise by taking the Healthy Families Nutritional Values quiz and even sign up for e-mail updates on childhood obesity from the Governor's Office.

You can also take a How's Your Health survey, in English or Spanish, prepared by the New Jersey Healthcare Quality Institute, see your grades, and get personalized advice based on your responses for you and your physician.

Recipes and Shopping Guides

GetFitNJ provides visitors with two important resources for everyday nutrition from the US federal government.

"Recipes and Tips for Healthy, Thrifty Meals," a colorful 78-page PDF booklet from the US Department of Agriculture, gives any homemaker an excellent basis for managing the nutritional needs of the family. Here are some of the highlights:

• Two weeks of balanced menus for a family of four
• Tips on smart shopping
• Tempting recipes for every course in the meal, including crispy chicken, turkey chili, meatballs, southwestern salad, pizza meatloaf, baked cod with cheese, beef-noodle casserole, peach-apple crisp, and rice pudding.
• Best buys
• A weekly list of food needed for the menus
• Safe cooking and storage tips

This recipe booklet is really a comprehensive guide to shopping with health, budget and nutrition in mind as well as a basic cookbook.

The second federal nutrition resource is the latest version of the Food Guide Pyramid. Available in English or Spanish, this 17-page PDF document features menu ideas, serving-size guidance, and charts of the sugar salt and fat content of common foods.

You'll also find "5 A Day The Color Way" food color charts and recipes from the Produce for Better Health Foundation.

Family-Oriented Exercise Tips

There's plenty too for those looking for exercise information:

• A video of fun fitness ideas for young kids
• Videos showing outdoor exercise tips for children, parents and schools
• Essays explaining the facts about exercise, weight, strength and nutrition

In 2003, he New Jersey Council on Physical Fitness and Sports was recognized as the State Council of the Year by the National Association on Health and Fitness (NAHF), Twenty nine states have Governor's or State Councils on Fitness.

New Jersey has done its citizens and the rest of us a big service by packing so much valuable health, fitness and nutrition information from reliable sources into a simple, easy-to-use format. Visit GetFitNJ to see for yourself.