The American Heart Association, the National Football League, and Discovery Education continue their commitment to kids’ whole-body and mental health through physical activity and no-cost resources
DALLAS, Feb. 1, 2020 — The American Heart Association, the world’s leading nonprofit organization focused on ensuring longer, healthier lives for all, and the National Football League (NFL), in collaboration with its 32 NFL clubs, challenge kids to move more with NFL PLAY 60™ Kids Day leading up to Super Bowl LV. Included in the weeklong, free festivities are activities and challenges culminating with NFL PLAY 60 Kids Day, a day of action to inspire kids to get moving with their classmates, teachers and families inclusive of virtual, hybrid and socially distant classroom settings.
On Wednesday, February 3 at 1 p.m. ET/ 12 p.m. CT/ 10 a.m. PT, NFL PLAY 60 Kids Day will host an action packed, synchronous broadcast from the Super Bowl LV host city, Tampa Bay. During this broadcast, the NFL team with the winning NFL PLAY 60 exercise of the 2020-2021 season will be announced. Throughout January, kids were asked to cast their vote for their favorite team created NFL PLAY 60 exercise. Educators and families can find the resource at heart.org/KidsDay and register for the live event here. In addition, access an array of standards-aligned resources designed for wherever learning takes place on Discovery Education’s flexible K-12 learning platform. Discovery Education is the global leader in standards-aligned digital curriculum resources, engaging content, and professional learning for K-12 classrooms worldwide.
NFL PLAY 60 Kids Day offers interactive lessons and videos to jumpstart activity at home and in the classroom. Each school can completely customize their activation. Students and teachers can access on-demand exercises from NFL teams in the digital NFL PLAY 60 library to help them reach their recommended 60-minutes of daily physical activity. Schools can implement the majority of the NFL PLAY 60 activities at their own pace to allow scheduling flexibility during this untraditional school year. Advanced registration is required to access the NFL PLAY 60 Kids Day guide and attend the broadcast.
“During a season unlike any other, we’ve been proud to continue our work with the American Heart Association to help youth stay physically active and healthy through our NFL PLAY 60 initiative,” said Anna Isaacson, senior vice-president of social responsibility for the NFL. “We look forward to a week of NFL PLAY 60 themed activities as a way to engage with more youth and to help them live a heart-healthy lifestyle – while hosting events in a reimagined way to keep everyone as safe as possible.”
Earlier in the football season, the American Heart Association and the NFL debuted a digital NFL PLAY 60 library to assist schools and parents with closing the physical activity gap created by pandemic with fun, easy ways to move more during social distancing and contact limitations.
“By aligning fun with the fundamentals of good health, we are supporting kids’ overall wellness which is especially critical during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Eduardo Sanchez, M.D., MPH, FAAFP, the American Heart Association’s chief medical officer for prevention. “The collaboration of Kids Day and the NFL PLAY 60 work is a way to propel physical and mental health in children to drive life-long health benefits.”
Getting active for 60 minutes a day is critical as kids who are regularly active have a better chance of a healthy adulthood, but only 1 in 5 children and adolescents get enough activity to meet the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans[1]. Physical activity is critical to improve immediate and long-term health for kids and their families.
“Educators play an important role in connecting the dots for students between healthy lifestyle choices and success in the classroom,” said Lori McFarling, President of Corporate & Community Partnerships at Discovery Education. “We know there’s never been a more important time to connect communities to fitness and fun and are proud of our continued collaboration with the National Football League and the American Heart Association to inspire young people everywhere to get moving.”
In addition to the digital NFL PLAY 60 exercise library, the NFL and the American Heart Association provide a variety of tools to add movement throughout the day. Powered by GoNoodle and Discovery Education, video content, activities and family challenges can be accessed at heart.org/NFLPLAY60 or at aha-nflplay60.discoveryeducation.com.
Since 2006, the NFL and the American Heart Association have teamed up to inspire kids by providing fun and engaging ways to get physically active. In addition to the online resources found at heart.org/nflplay60, the free NFL PLAY 60 app helps kids get more movement throughout the day. The PLAY 60 app allows users to control personalized avatars onscreen with their own physical movement. The app is available for iOS and Android devices.
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About the American Heart Association
The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. We are dedicated to ensuring equitable health in all communities. Through collaboration with numerous organizations, and powered by millions of volunteers, we fund innovative research, advocate for the public’s health and share lifesaving resources. The Dallas-based organization has been a leading source of health information for nearly a century. Connect with us on heart.org, Facebook, Twitter or by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1.
About Discovery Education
Discovery Education is the global leader in standards-aligned digital curriculum resources, engaging content, and professional learning for K-12 classrooms. Through its award-winning digital textbooks, multimedia resources, and the largest professional learning network of its kind, Discovery Education is transforming teaching and learning, creating immersive STEM experiences, and improving academic achievement around the globe. Discovery Education currently serves approximately 4.5 million educators and 45 million students worldwide, and its resources are accessed in over 140 countries and territories. Inspired by the global media company Discovery, Inc., Discovery Education partners with districts, states, and like-minded organizations to empower teachers with customized solutions that support the success of all learners. Explore the future of education at www.discoveryeducation.com.
About NFL PLAY 60
NFL PLAY 60 is the League’s national youth health and wellness campaign to encourage kids to get physically active for at least 60 minutes a day. Since PLAY 60 launched in 2007, the NFL has committed more than $352 million to youth health and fitness through PLAY 60 programming, grants and media time for public service announcements. Over the past decade, the NFL has partnered with leading academic, scientific and nonprofit organizations to help children of all abilities lead healthier, active lives. The NFL and its clubs have supported programs in over 73,000 schools and constructed more than 265 youth fitness zones nationwide—giving more than 38 million children an opportunity to boost their physical activity levels. NFL PLAY 60 is also implemented locally, as part of the NFL’s in-school, after-school and team-based programs. For more information, visit NFL.com/PLAY60.
For Media Inquiries:
American Heart Association
Linzy Cotaya: 504-872-3446; linzy.cotaya@heart.org
For Public Inquiries: 1-800-AHA-USA1 (242-8721)
heart.org and stroke.org
NFL
Jordyn White
Jordyn.White@nfl.com
Discovery Education
Grace Maliska
gmaliska@discoveryed.com
[1] Department of Health and Human Services, Physical Activity Guidelines, page 14. Available for download here: https://health.gov/paguidelines/default.aspx