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"We have reached a point where the physical health of an entire generation is at stake as parents are expected to outlive their children due to the rise in obesity rates"
CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With an estimated 30 million children in the U.S. eating school lunch daily, providing nutritious meals at schools is vital. This is emphasized by the fact that a significant number of our nation’s children consume more than half of their daily calories at school. In spite of improvements made with school lunches in recent years, most lunches still include many unnatural ingredients.
As part of its “Healthy Kids, Healthy Planet” mission, the Life Time Foundation is undertaking the goal of positively impacting children’s health and wellness through an initiative designed to inspire healthier food and increased awareness in our nation’s schools. This involves a focus on addressing ingredients such as high fructose corn syrup, bleached flour, added sugar, food coloring, artificial preservatives, trans fats, antibiotics and hormones currently in the food children consume.
Burr Ridge Middle School and Anne M. Jeans Elementary of the Community Consolidated School District 180, have been selected by the Life Time Foundation to participate in the program. The Life Time Foundation will cover the cost difference between the school’s current food budget and that required of the new menu. Additionally, Life Time-The Healthy Way of Life Company (NYSE: LTM) will collaborate with school staff and parents to help kids improve their health through exercise and improved diets at home.
“We have reached a point where the physical health of an entire generation is at stake as parents are expected to outlive their children due to the rise in obesity rates,” says Life Time Foundation Director of Operations, James McGuire. “School foodservice operators already know that a nutritious school lunch program provides significant benefits to students. In fact, many have taken positive steps in the right direction. However, strained budgets and other restrictions often pose challenges that limit progress. Through the Life Time Foundation, it is our goal to work collaboratively with the forward-thinking, innovative school leaders, such as the team at Community Consolidated School District 180 to further develop a sustainable model that can be adopted by schools nationwide.”
In 2011, the Life Time Foundation selected Deephaven Elementary, part of the Minnetonka Public School District, as a partner in the pilot program to design and launch a new lunch menu beginning in the 2011/12 school year. The Foundation has since expanded its school lunch mission to include Deephaven Elementary with ongoing focus on lunch menu design and the elimination of the identified ingredients, as well as the Community Consolidated School District 180 and a Phoenix metro area elementary school. Additional schools will be selected to participate in the 2013/2014 school year. Submissions are being accepted at schoollunch@lifetimefitness.com.
“We are incredibly happy to provide these excellent food choices to our students and work in partnership with the Life Time Foundation to help our students learn and enjoy healthy food choices,” says School District Superintendent Tom Schneider.
For more information about the Life Time Foundation, visit www.ltffoundation.org. Like us on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/lifetimefitnessfoundation.
About Life Time Foundation
As the charitable giving component of Life Time, the Life Time Foundation is about inspiring healthy people and a healthy planet one mission at a time. Our current mission is improving children's nutrition - One School Lunch Program at a Time. We’re on a mission to ensure every child has a healthy start in life, beginning with proper nutrition and exercise. Unlike many other charitable organizations in which a portion of your donation is consumed by administrative costs, 100% of every dollar donated to the Life Time Foundation supports our missions. That's because all administrative costs are contributed by Life Time Fitness, Inc.
About Life Time Fitness, Inc.
As The Healthy Way of Life Company, Life Time Fitness (NYSE:LTM) helps organizations, communities and individuals achieve their total health objectives, athletic aspirations and fitness goals by engaging in their areas of interest – or discovering new passions – both inside and outside of Life Time’s distinctive and large sports, professional fitness, family recreation and spa destinations, most of which operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Company’s Healthy Way of Life approach enables customers to achieve this by providing the best programs, people and places of uncompromising quality and value. As of January 16, 2013, the Company operated 105 centers under the LIFE TIME FITNESS® and LIFE TIME ATHLETIC(SM) brands in the United States and Canada. Additional information about Life Time centers, programs and services is available at lifetimefitness.com.