As a teenager, New York State First Lady Michelle Paige Paterson
learned firsthand how important physical fitness and healthy eating can
be to mental health and self esteem. "When I went through puberty, I
started gaining weight and going through depression," Paterson says.
"Then I started eating healthy and running, and it changed my life.
Exercise really helped me feel better and more confident about myself."
Paterson's love of
healthy living is one she'd like to share with her state's young
residents, particularly those living in urban areas where there are few
opportunities for organized physical fitness. So when her husband,
David, became governor, she decided to launch a state-sponsored
version of her Healthy Steps to Albany program.
Paterson first created
a local version of the obesity-fighting program while living in New
York City. "I was bothered by the gro
wing number of overweight and obese kids," she says. "I wanted to do
something to motivate and educate them about what happens when you eat
whatever you want and don't exercise." A statewide version of the
physical fitness contest, which challenges middle school students to
increase their fitness by competing with each other to walk 4 million
steps over a six-week period, launched in March. Participating
classrooms receive activity recommendations and materials for tracking
their progress. Winning classrooms lunch with the governor and first
lady, take a trip to a local organic farm and receive other prizes.
The Healthy Steps
challenge will engage 26,000 middle school students in 2009, but
Paterson plans to expand it next year. "I want to grab them in the
middle school years," she says, "so we can help them develop a healthy
lifestyle that will stay with them throughout adulthood."
--Shawn Rhea
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