SPECIAL
FEATURE
WISCFIT INSPIRES HEALTHY CHOICES
isconsin senior wide receiver Jared Abbrederis knows the importance of healthy
eating and nutrition.
The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Abbrederis says he relies on healthy eating to keep him at the top of his
game, which generally means catching passes in the
end zone.
"What you put in your body is what you're going
to get out of it," Abbrederis said. "You're not going to
have the energy to excel at your sport if you're not
eating right. If you eat nutritious food, you're going
to be a lot more successful."
Since October, Abbrederis and his fellow UW student-athletes have been sharing that message with
schools across Dane County in conjunction with
UW Athletics' new WiscFit program that aims to encourage healthy eating and exercise habits amongst
youth in grades five through seven.
To kick off a class' participation in the program,
UW student-athletes visit the classroom to speak
with students about the importance of healthy eating and exercise and engage with them in an exercise-based activity. They also assist the classroom in
setting attainable goals for the year ― two benchmark goals and one ultimate goal. When a classroom reaches its goal, UW Athletics will reward it
with a visit from Bucky Badger and certificates of
achievement.
"Setting small, achievable goals is an important
part of achieving your overall goals," Abbrederis
said. "It will be fun to help the students celebrate
when they achieve their goals."
The program has already been implemented in
fifteen classrooms across Dane County in the few
short months since its debut.
Beyond the opportunity to influence local youth,
the Badgers can also see the program as a chance to
better prepare themselves for careers in health or
exercise-related fields.
"As a dietetics major, the WiscFit program fits
right in with what I want to do in the future," said
Katie Delaney, a junior on the women's swimming
and diving team. "The program will help me get
more hands-on experience teaching kids about nutrition and helping them set tangible goals for eating better and being more active."
Badgers' new outreach effort aims to encourage healthy eating and exercise habits for local children
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VARSITY December 19, 2013
