Fighting Fat with Phat

Moovjam is a major presence in mainstream youth and young adult populations. We have our finger on the pulse of today’s trends, and know how to communicate the benefits of a healthy lifestyle through cool programs and events. By linking with celebrity spokespeople, and professional athletes, and by “learning the lingo, dude” , Moovjam has made health and fitness COOL.

Connecting with Youth

Young people want to be in charge of their health, and Moovjam provides them with the tools and resources they need to eat well and be active. In turn, by encouraging and rewarding the development of their leadership skills, these kids become healthy trendsetters who reinforce messages of health and fitness through their actions and – NEW ATTITUDE – in schools and social settings.

Connecting with the Environment

The environment is every child’s Second School. It educates them through powerful messages –often heavily funded commercial messages about what is acceptable and expected of them. For example, the presence of fast food restaurants in school districts tempts children and teens, and encourages them to consume increasing amounts of processed foods. Reduced prices and super-sized portions make those processed foods easily accessible and affordable. Incentives reward consumption and encourage return visits. The overall message is: Its tasty, its cheap, its close-by, and you can win stuff… Please keep eating! Moovjam is working with business leaders all over the globe to change this, and to provide children and families with healthier versions of their favorite foods and products. Without changing the environmental conditions that favor obesity and illness, kids won’t be able to apply what they learn to the real world.

The environment can also negatively impact how children and families feel towards outdoor activity and healthy living. A lack of bike trails, playgrounds and green spaces, discourage exercise and outdoor activity. Areas without sidewalks make walking almost impossible. Kids happily resort to indoor activities that are convenient and safe, and reinforced by sedentary activities and games that are readily available in many households. Combined with commercial advertisements and messages that pair junk food consumption with sedentary activities, kids learn that it’s not important to exercise, or limit their intake of processed snacks.

What Moovjam Can Do

Through Moovjam, kids can learn to make the right choices in a health-hostile environment. Moovjam’s Healthy Living Program also unites children everywhere, and turns their health quest into ONE SINGLE POWERFUL VOICE. Businesses and corporations will listen when this voice demands what is the implicit right of every child: to have access to healthy and nutritious food; to live in an environment that favors outside activity; to be taken seriously when it comes to health and wellbeing. By preparing kids, and giving them a say, they can even influence industry, and unite it towards a healthier future for everyone.

Uniting Industry

Times have changed for the better. Industry leaders WANT to make improvements to the products they manufacture, and they WANT to ensure that kids become healthier. They WANT to be good corporate citizens too, and to work with Moovjam towards real and sustainable change. But we –society, have a role to play too. We NEED to support industry initiatives by making their efforts sustainable. That means we NEED to buy the products that we’re demanding, even if they are a little bit more expensive. BUT the prices will go down as product purchases go up. The more we buy, the more they produce, the better the prices become. This model is economically rewarding for industry and consumer alike, and results in a more health-friendly environment.

Moovjam has been effectively communicating with industry leaders since 2005. We have clear directives, and can act as a broker to communicate the needs and concerns of everyone involved: this includes kids, parents, health professionals, educators, and even the industry leaders themselves.

It is abundantly clear that a healthy future begins with the well-being of children. They haven’t had the time to develop ingrained habits around eating or exercising yet, so they won’t have to be persuaded to eat nutritionally dense foods or engage in fun physical activities. They just need to have them available in their immediate environments. As availability improves, behavior will change. It is these changes that will lead to ever increasing demands for improved products, which ensure sustainability over the long term.

The powerful experiences that Moovjam is offering to children are revolutionary. One day, there will be a generation of children that will NEVER consider eating foods that are harmful to their bodies, or sitting idle when there is the option of playing and exercising outdoors. Raising a generation that –FINALLY- won’t have to make a distinction between healthy and “normal” is our best path to success and economic sustainability.