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"It’s helped us instill a foundation for healthy eating habits for years to come with our kids—both at school and at home."
CHANHASSEN, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Officials at Deephaven Elementary School and theLife Time Foundation are continuing their partnership for the third consecutive year of the Back 2 Basics healthy school lunch program. The program, resulting from a collaboration between school nutrition staff and the Life Time Foundation, provides students with natural, healthy foods for lunch by eliminating unnatural ingredients, such as high fructose corn syrup; bleached flour; artificial sweeteners, colors and preservatives; trans fats and hydrogenated oils; hormones and antibiotics in beef; and where possible, hormones and antibiotics in other animal products.
In addition to its forward-thinking school lunch program, Deephaven Elementary was one of seven schools in Minnesota, and one of 286 nationally to receive the 2013 Blue Ribbon School Award based on overall academic performance.
“The Life Time Foundation has helped our school provide so much more than healthy school lunches,” says Bryan McGinley, principal, Deephaven Elementary School in Minnetonka, Minn. “It’s helped us instill a foundation for healthy eating habits for years to come with our kids—both at school and at home.”
Parents of students at Deephaven Elementary also continue to express their support, with many commenting on the quality of food, stating that their children enjoy the taste of the healthier food options.
Via the program, the Life Time Foundation aims to inspire much needed change while addressing health concerns our kids face today. Childhood obesity has increased 300 percent over the past 30 years, 33 percent of our children are overweight or obese, and one in three children will develop diabetes in their lifetime.
By providing the difference between the cost of the schools existing budget and the cost of the new, healthier menu—an average of approximately 35 cents per meal—the Life Time Foundation is driving change one school at a time. Currently, more than 25 schools nationwide are serving healthier options to more than five thousand students with the Back 2 Basics program.
“As the inaugural partner to our healthy school lunch program, Deephaven has helped us to develop best practices and expand our program to more than 25 schools throughout Minnesota, Illinois and Ohio,” says James McGuire, director of operations, Life Time Foundation. “We’ve been able to serve more than 140,000 healthy lunches to Deephaven students, and we’re excited to continue to collaborate with their team to provide them with the resources and tools needed to offer the best lunches possible for kids. Our main priority is to deliver healthier lunches while inspiring change at home. The cost of not doing so is much too high.”
The Life Time Foundation has committed to covering the cost difference incurred by the menu changes at Deephaven indefinitely. In addition, Life Time is working closely with the school and parents to help students make clean eating choices at home, including a first-ever 7-Day Clean Eating Commitment Guidebook designed to walk parents and students through label checks, grocery shopping and recipes for a healthy future.
For more information about the Life Time Foundation or to nominate a school for participation visit www.ltffoundation.org orwww.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 are 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 portions of donations are 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 Oct. 28, the Company operated 107 centers under the LIFE TIME FITNESS® and LIFE TIME ATHLETIC® brands in the United States and Canada. Additional information about Life Time centers, programs and services is available at lifetimefitness.com.