We all recognize the many positive effects that exercise has on the body but did you know that regular physical activity can benefit brain mechanisms?

Research carried out by neurologists at Columbia University Medical Centre in New York earlier this year has found that just as exercise improves muscle tone and function in the body, it can also boost brain power by building new brain cells in a brain region linked with learning and memory.

And acc…

Shaq's new show called "Shaq's Big Challenge" kicked off on Tuesday evening. I must admit I didn't tune in. Perhaps I will next week.

I did however stumble upon Shaq's Big Challenge website and was pleasantly surprised. It contained a variety of tools for kids trying to lose weight including:
The Pledge
Make the commitment to make some changes in your life.

Shaq's Daily Drills
Don't be a slacker — get your workouts…

Oregon's elementary and middle-school students would have physical education requirements phased in during the next decade as a result of final legislative approval of a bill Tuesday, according to the Statesman Journal.
House Bill 3141 passed the Senate on a 28-1 vote and went to Gov. Ted Kulongoski. It includes $1 million for Senate President Peter Courtney's physical-education proposals, which would require 150 minutes per week for elem…

One trend that I hope catches on..........

Singers, statesmen, and saints, among others, have left their mark on the Brooklyn, NY landscape in the form of parks and playgrounds bearing their names. It’s a great tribute to a person to give his name to a public space. What better way is there to keep the name if not the spirit of a person alive than by turning it into something concrete, fun and functional?

The Douglas' Foundation here in CA hav…

Who knew that Leonardo da Vinci invented the pedometer? The prolific 15th-century inventor and artist sketched what's undoubtedly the world's first pedometer. This pendulum-driven device was strapped to the leg, swinging back and forth to measure distance. More than 500 years later, his invention — packed with high-tech features — has become all the rage in exercise circles, launching walking groups across the country.And both adults …

Next Sunday, Shaquille O'Neal, the 7-foot, 325-pound center from pro basketball's Miami Heat, works with 6 overweight youth on his new ABC reality show, "Shaq's Big Challenge."

O'Neal's mission: to transform the lives of six obese children -- none of whom can run a mile -- into fit, active kids with a healthful outlook on life. It won't be easy with this bunch. One of the boys is addicted to "pizza burrito…

This year Lincoln-Titus Elementary School embraced a school wide initiative to develop a model Peaceful Playground. The Peaceful Playground Program is a way for schools to organize and manage their playgrounds. It provides materials and resources that allow schools to make better use of a given playground area. It also incorporates a variety of games that enable more students to participate in an organized activity. They have an organizational…

People who want some exercise often need to do little more than get off their, er, couches and go for a walk. Despite numerous studies linking walking to better health, many people cannot seem to bring themselves to do even that.
Now a new study reports that the most successful health initiatives to encourage walking tend to use “targeting and tailoring.” They are aimed at people who are most likely to be responsive, and they are geared to indivi…

Pediatrician David Ludwig, author of "Ending the Food Fight" and director of the Optimal Weight for Life Program at Children's Hospital Boston describes two pillars of parenting that form the foundation of his obesity-prevention approach. The first is protecting the family environment -- creating a home that makes it easy and convenient to make smart choices. That means stocking the fridge and pantry with the foods and beverages y…

Vending-machine junk food, too few gym classes — schools make kids fat, right? Not so, says a new study in the American Journal of Public Health, which found that 5- to 7-year-olds gain weight twice as quickly during the lazy days of summer than the busy school year. Tips for battling the bulge, from the American Dietetic Association: • Stick to the same meal and snack schedule as during the school year. Kids are less likely to eat constantly wh…

The playground fight began as many do, with a disagreement over whether a ball was in or out.The scuffle escalated into name-calling and pushing between two fourth-graders at Madison's Emerson Elementary School.A couple of years ago, the students likely would have been suspended. But under a new approach to discipline being tried in the district, the students instead were given the option of coming up with a fix-it plan -- something more tha…

The city will open up 69 school playgrounds to the public within a few weeks as part of its plan to have every New Yorker live within a 10-minute walk of a park by 2030. The majority of public school playgrounds are closed to the public after school hours, and the city wants to open up around 290 of them for public use. The plan, which will involve major construction work on about 190 of the schoolyards, is expected to cost about $114.5 million.…

Elementary school recess has no teacher-designed objectives, and many school districts throughout the country have abolished recess in favor of more time for academic learning. The schoolyard is notorious for being the place where children are most likely to squabble over equipment, call each other hurtful names, make disgusting faces, and mock, taunt, or bully younger children in order to demonstrate their own superiority. These two major conce…

Upon reading about the Great Wall Marathon I ask myself, "Is that really possible?" If you've been to the great wall (see insert I visited it in 2000) running on the great wall seems impossible basically because the steps are uneven, straight up and solid rock. However, it seems that last week a great many contestants did just that.

The Great Wall Marathon®
Marathon, Half Marathon, 10 km & 5 km on the Great Wall of China
17th Ma…