SKF: Taking Up the Fight Against Child Obesity and Inactivity

Coast-to-coast the Spartan Kids Foundation is activating programs to combat childhood inactivity  and child obesity and make “healthy’ the new normal for America’s kid. Since 2016, thanks to the donors generous contributions, the foundation’s mission is to to help young people achieve healthier and more active lives and provide extraordinary experiences for under-served and challenged children and youths. And in 2018, it raised the bar higher than ever, implementing programs that now reach over 8 million kids in America. Considering the alarming child obesity statistics, this is a way worth winning.

In Denver, CO, the Spartan Edge program has teenagers are pushing themselves to the limits, pulling weights, climbing ropes, hauling themselves over 8ft walls on a Sunday!  Edge is a program that combines character-building exercises with physical Spartan movements and is now part of the Denver Public School’s physical education program.

In Austin, TX a group of young Spartans from Shriners Hospitals for Children traveled to a Spartan Race and participated on the kid’s course.  This included “name”, who lives with a specific neuromusculoskeletal condition that can make movement difficult so he wears knee braces.  Tears ran down faces as dozens of these smiling kids climbed and crawled through a Spartan kid’s course feeling alive.

In Boston, MA a group of Special Spartans was brought to Fenway Park just after the Boston Red Sox won the World Series to run through the famed ball park.  The foundation also partnered with Building Our Kids (BOKS), an international award-winning kids fitness program, when a brand new Spartan Edge-based training program was rolled out to over 1,000 teenagers. The program will be expanded throughout Boston Public Schools in 2019. In neighboring Brockton, a special PE fitness program was enthusiastically received by the teachers there, and looks likely to be presented to at least 1,500 students in the area next year.

In San Diego, CA, the San Diego Boys and Girls Club chapter that SKF have been diligently helping to fundraise for via Spartan Race tickets. So successful has this initiative been that further discussions have been penciled in with the national organization regarding the implementation of a country-wide program for 2019. 

Two further unprecedented partnerships flourished in 2018. SFK teamed up with the USO, America’s largest military service organization, to develop a new EDGE-based project targeted to kids and families. Not only will Spartan Edge now be available on select military bases, but youngsters from military families will have free access to Spartan Kids Races at near-base Spartan Race events.

Alongside this, the team at Spartan Kids Foundation, have been deep in work with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) developing a Spartan Fit Merit Badge. This will be based on a multi-month program and, once given the go-ahead by the BSA, will be offered to the 2.4 million Boy Scouts currently active in the organization in the United States. 

These partnerships and programs are all part of the ongoing work that the Spartan Kids Foundation has been doing to help young people build strength, stamina and move beyond life’s inevitable challenges. 

Each project is a step further towards making “healthy’ the new normal for America’s kids and bring the fight against child obesity.

But mostly, 2018 has been about supporting kids to embrace life and do it now while engaging in that often forgotten childhood value – fun.