It's Go Healthy Month!

You thought it was just plain old September, the month with Labor Day (Sept. 7), the first day of school (depends) and the first day of fall (Sept. 22). Little did you know it is also "Go Healthy Month,"  at least according to empowerME, a project of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. EmpowerME aims to "inspire us to eat healthier and move more, to motivate each other, and to be a solution to America's obesity epidemic."

The sponsors encourage youth to get involved by joining the movement, sharing their stories and attending events. Joining involves signing up on the Web site, changing one's Facebook status to John Doe “joined the empowerME Movement: empowerme2b.org,” "friending" empowerME on MySpace and Facebook, and tweeting an invite to “Join the Movement at empowerme2b.org.” Whew. Already a lot of work and we haven't even gotten to the going healthy part yet.

Participants are asked to share their stories of how they're making their schools and communities healthier. This can be in photo, video or (so old-fashioned!) written form at empowerme2b.org or by emailing to empowerme@healthiergeneration.org. The organizers also encourage young people to write letters to the local paper on the issue of healthful living and the importance of addressing childhood obesity.

The events calendar on empowerME's Web site lists opportunities for kids to get involved face-to-face. Movement members can even organize youth-hosted forums or host an empowerME T-shirt day at their schools.

Adults can join in the fun, too, by putting banners on their Web sites, encouraging the youth in their lives to get involved, distributing materials or helping organize a youth-hosted forum or a "Recess ROCKS!" event.

Photo courtesy of stock.xchng