- 61% of U.S. adults are overweight.
- There are three times as many overweight adolescents in the U.S. today compared to 30 years ago.
- Conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and attention deficit syndrome are rapidly increasing among children and are related to the obesity epidemic among our youth.
Coalition of the Willing
This significant public health problem offers an equally significant opportunity to promote snow sports as part of an overall sports revival. Several national sports trade associations are already organizing programs to combat the lack of physical activity in the U.S. The Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA) has teamed up with PE4Life to promote physical education programs. The Outdoor Industry Association is raising funds for a community outreach program to stimulate interest in outdoor activities.
In May, SnowSports Industries America (SIA) launched Winter Feels Good, a public awareness campaign that celebrates the health, fitness and social aspects—and benefits—of snow sports participation. The bottom line message for Winter Feels Good is that snow sports can contribute to a healthy lifestyle beginning at a young age and continuing through maturity.
A key part of the public awareness program is the www.winterfeelsgood website, an on-line resource for media and consumers. It highlights exercise benefits, calories burned, nutrition, and the social opportunities resulting from alpine skiing, snowboarding, cross country skiing and snowshoeing. The website includes links to numerous resort programs and will list information relevant to health and fitness issues from the PSIA, retailers and other industry organizations.
An Appeal to Women and Children
Winter Feels Good targets kids under 14, their parents (particularly moms) and active women. It combines media relations with community outreach and focuses on lifestyle messages that can break down some of the barriers to snow sports participation, including cost, logistics and ability.
In mid-May, Winter Feels Good spokespersons met with lifestyle and fitness editors of nearly 30 national magazines read primarily by women 25-45 and kids. This group was targeted because women make the majority of travel and retail buying decisions for families, and because kids influence their moms.
The editors heard three succinct messages:
1) Snow sports offer many health, fitness and social benefits.
2) Products have never been more user-friendly, light and versatile.
3) Resorts offer countless affordable learn-to and skill enhancement programs that are fun and enjoyable.
The initial response has been positive, at times downright enthusiastic.
“This is SO cool!” said Sara Boyd of Teen Vogue. “Our (magazine’s) goal is to help our audience get started in activities young. It’s so important that young people hear the ‘healthy’ message. We need to get kids out there, get them away from the video games and into the outdoors.”
Regional and local media will be targeted later this summer and in the fall with similar messages. A speaker’s bureau of industry experts is being developed to address questions about the health and social aspects of snow sports.
Reach Out and Touch Someone
Equally important to Winter Feels Good is a community outreach program that will spread the snow sports messages to and through health and fitness organizations, educational institutions (particularly physical education departments) and government agencies.
As part of this outreach, Winter Feels Good has formed alliances with the National Association for Sports and Physical Education (NASPE) and the National Coalition for the Promotion of Physical Activity (NCPPA). This winter, the official NASPE magazine “Strategies,” distributed to approximately 18,000 physical education teachers in the U.S., will publish an article about how snow sports activities can be incorporated into school physical education and fitness programs. The article will feature several of the school-based “passport” programs organized by various regional and state resort associations.
In addition, a number of federal and regional agencies are being pursued as funding partners for Winter Feels Good to bankroll community programs that will broaden access to snow sports. This is not as far-fetched as it might seem: the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services recently have increased funding for programs such as PE4Life that encourage all sorts of physical activity programs for youth.
Feeling Good About Resorts
Winter Feels Good can help resorts develop long-term relationships with new audiences by delivering a health message that makes sense to them. Resorts can take advantage of Winter Feels Good by adding health and fitness messages in their own promotions. The information on www.winterfeelsgood.com can provide a starting point. In addition, information about affordable family and kids-oriented programs at resorts will be posted on the site as a public service. Resorts should send information to: [email protected]
