It seems that, as we get caught up in the details of daily life, we tend to turn a blind eye toward larger problems, such as our body & health. However, every month there are various organizations that help draw our attention to different issues, some of which are health related.

	National Nutrition Month
	National School Breakfast Week
	American Diabetes Alert Day
	Poison Prevention Week

To find more about other health observances you can visit the National Health Center's 2005 National Health Observances calendar.

Dawn Sakaguchi
Health & Fitness Section Editor

Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005
"Dietary Guidelines for Americans is published jointly every 5 years by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Department of Agriculture (USDA). The Guidelines provide authoritative advice for people, two years of age and older, about how good dietary habits can promote health and reduce risk for major chronic diseases."

Finding Your Way to a Healthier You - Based on the new 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, this brochure explains how you can make smart food choices for a healthier life.

Eat 5 to 9 a Day
This website provides resources about eating 5 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. It also answers the question "what is a serving?" and provides vibrant images of what a day of eating fruits and vegetable looks like.

Mealtime.org
The website features recipes involving canned foods. There is also information comparing canned foods to frozen and fresh foods.

The Healthy Potato
A website strives to educate consumers, retailers, and culinary professionals about the convenience, good nutrition, and versatility of potatoes.

Fast Health
A site containing links to Medical Diet Sites. Check it out. There's so much information to be had.

restaurant.org - Watching calories while eating out? The good news is in today's restaurants you have plenty of options! Here are a few tips from the National Restaurant Association on how to make the most of your dining-out experience.- By Sheila Cohn, R.D.

The Sportsmanship Olympic Games

The focus of this month's review is on sportsmanship and character building. In the Project ACES Handbook, Len Saunders presents an activity called "The Sportsmanship Olympic Games." This activity can involve all grades, and be a school wide event. The author suggests having the games resemble as much as possible the 'real' Winter or Summer Olympics.

To closer resemble the Olympics, the author gives an example of the opening ceremonies. He mentions that these ceremonies can be assigned to one grade level, and incorporate a flag march, histories of the countries, and the national anthem of the host country. In reading his example, I thought that it was a wonderful way of highlighting social studies in a physical education event.

The purpose of these Olympic Games is to promote teamwork, effort, and sportsmanship; the author offers an idea of how to implement this activity. Saunders suggests dividing classes into different countries, and throughout the games each country will work as a team to earn points. He also mentions how other academic teachers can get involved with this activity.

This chapter offers sample letters, and other materials, that can provide some assistance in carrying out a successful implementation.

National Nutrition Month 2005
National Nutrition Month is a campaign put forth by the American Dietetic Association. "The campaign is designed to focus attention on the importance of making informed food choices, and developing sound eating and physical activity habits." They want to remind you that nutrition is a large part of being healthy.

The site provides activities, menus, toolkits and brochures in order to help you promote National School Breakfast week at your school.

American Diabetes Alert Day
March 22
"The American Diabetes Alert is an annual, one-day call-to-action, held on the fourth Tuesday of March, for people to find out if they are at risk for diabetes. The Alert's goal is to raise the awareness that diabetes is serious, you can have diabetes and not even know it, and that taking the Risk Test is an easy way to find out if you are at risk for diabetes."

What is Diabetes?
As defined by the American Diabetes Association, "Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches, and other food into energy needed for daily life. The cause of diabetes continues to be a mystery, although both genetics and environmental factors such as obesity and lack of exercise appear to play roles."

There are several types of diabetes; type I where the body fails to produce insulin; type II where the body does not use insulin properly. Gestational diabetes occurs during the later part of a woman's pregnancy, and pre-diabetes is a condition that usually occurs in people before they develop type II diabetes.

Find out more about Diabetes.

Poison Prevention Week
March 20-26
Poison Prevention Week Council members have designated March 20-26, 2005, as Poison Prevention Week. The week focuses on the theme "Children Act Fast...So Do Poisons!" indicating that, even in the smallest amount of time that an adult turns his/her back on a child, it takes only an instant for a child to reach out and swallow something that may be poisonous.

This site contains links to steps to avoid accidental poisonings, and encourages you to become active and promote this awareness in your community.

Childproofers.com is a website designed with resources on how to make your home a safer place for your child.

BabyCentre.co.uk talks about accidental poisoning and how to keep your child safe

Article: Four-Year-Old Overdoses on Children's Aspirin. This article is about a 'close call' when a little girl mistook aspirin as being candy.

Provided below are downloads to FREE health related software. Since the 'average' person likes free things check these out, but read the information in regard to each, and use discretion and good judgement if you decide to try any of these.

Health-Minder™ software is a Family Health Information Manager for Windows that organizes personal and pet medical records, and helps you learn new ways to monitor family health.

Simplebean Health Guide
The free Simplebean Health Guide quickly calculates your health statistics and targets. To plan a healthy diet, you get important health information such as your BMI, Basal Energy Expenditure, personalized daily calorie requirements and targets, and the target weight for your frame size. The health guide even breaks down your daily calorie target into carbohydrate, protein, and fat needs. It is excellent for weight loss or maintenance. - source: site

Weight-By-Date Pro
Keep yourself on track with Weight-By-Date Pro. Log your nutritional intake, exercises, body measurements, and more. It's flexible, it's friendly, and it's fun. Most importantly, it keeps you motivated and committed to becoming a healthier you. - source: site

Sleep for Kids - Get A Free P.J. Bear Booklet!
TIME TO SLEEP with P.J. Bear. Also included is info on 'why we sleep, 'how sleep works,' and more.

Sammie's New Mask: Free Coloring Book from The National Children's Cancer Society. Sammie's New Mask is for K - 3rd grade friends of children with cancer. Free PDF download, or can order printed version.

Free Teen Handbook "What You Need To Know About Dating Violence." Just fill out the form and click the order button.

22 FUN Activities For Kids Read this material, and click the link 'click here to download' the book. You'll get a 24 page PDF download. This is a great freeby!

Free US listing of restaurants with "Kids Eat Free" programs.

Christy Turlington Anti-Smoking Poster - Free from the Center for Disease Control

Free anti-Smoking Booklets for Kids - To help parents and grandparents talk with kids about not smoking, R.J.Reynolds Tobacco co. is making available three helpful brochures. Free posters, video & bumper sticker also available.

Free poster downloads from slimgoodbody.com. Also, downloadable coloring pages!