Newswise — Parents, are you looking for a way to add some excitement and physical activity to your child's holiday break from school and during the cold winter months? Check out two new features on Kidnetic.com: the Move Mixer and The Kore!
These fun activities are designed to get kids up and moving while they surf Kidnetic.com (http://kidnetic.com), an interactive and educational Web site designed to appeal to kids 9-12 and their parents to help prevent childhood overweight/obesity* by promoting healthy eating and physical activity.
In the Move Mixer, kids follow a "dance leader" choosing routines from ten pre-mixed dances. Kids also can create their own dances using different dance moves and music. Kids can take the dances at their own pace, slowing down the speed when they are learning the steps and speeding it up as they increase their skills. Four types of music are also available to help kids "Get out of (their) chairs and shake some air!"
"We think the Move Mixer is another unique way to use the Internet to promote physical activity and overall healthy lifestyles," said Richard Elder, Senior Director, International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation. "It builds on the popularity of the dance game trend and allows kids to be creative by mixing their own combination of dance moves."
The Move Mixer is one of four activities found in The Kore, a physical activity "portal" for all Kidnetic.com games. Other activities in The Kore include Wet Head Games, Scavenger Hunt, and Fitness Challenge. "The Kore is meant to help kids tap into their inner 'Kore' of energy," added Elder.
"I like how The Kore is interactive and it has stuff you can do in front of the computer, especially the fitness test and scavenger hunt," said one kid visitor.
Parents agree. "We loved this Web site!" said one satisfied parent. "We had a great time with the scavenger hunt! We were out of breath at the end of several games!" The Kore and Move Mixer join already popular Kidnetic.com features such as Busy Buddy, Recipe Roundup, and InnerG. Kidnetic.com celebrated its first anniversary last summer and has received nearly 1.3 million visitors since it's launch in June 2002.
There is no cost to use Kidnetic.com, and it is non-commercial. This means there is no advertising, nothing is for sale, and there are no links to any company or brand Web sites.
All content on Kidnetic.com is reviewed for scientific accuracy and appropriateness by each of five organizations that formed a partnership with the IFIC Foundation to create the site. These organizations are: the American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Sports Medicine, American Dietetic Association, International Life Sciences Institute Center for Health Promotion, and the National Recreation and Park Association.
The following organizations provide funding for Kidnetic.com in the form of unrestricted grants to the IFIC Foundation: The Coca-Cola Company; Hershey Foods Corporation; H.J. Heinz Foundation; Keebler Company; Kellogg Company; Kraft Foods; Masterfoods USA; McDonald's Corporation; National Confectioners Association; The Procter & Gamble Company; PepsiCo, Inc.; Sara Lee Corporation; and Snack Food Association.
Visit Kidnetic.com at http://kidnetic.com.
* The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines childhood overweight as a condition in which a child's weight is at or above the 95th percentile of body mass index for his or her age group.
The International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation will effectively communicate science-based information on health, nutrition, and food safety for the public good. The IFIC Foundation is supported primarily by the broad-based food, beverage and agricultural industries. IFIC Foundation materials are available at http://ific.org.
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