Support for VERB campaign to promote healthy lifestyles

WHEREAS, the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) was established in 1969 for the purpose of advocating, planning, and promoting the unique and special educational needs of American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians; and

WHEREAS, NIEA as the largest national Indian organization of American Indians, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian educators, administrators, parents, and students in the United States, provides a forum to discuss and act upon issues affecting the education of Indian and Native people; and

WHEREAS, through its unique relationship with Indian nations and tribes, the federal government has established programs and resources to meet the educational needs of American Indians, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiians, residing on and off their reserved or non-reserved homelands; and

WHEREAS, research documents that two out of five or 38.5% of American Indian and Alaskan Native children are overweight; and the health of our Tribal youth has reached a critical point, and increasing sedentary behaviors due to television, video games and computers result in more overweight youth, and

WHEREAS, the lack of physical activity among young people is one factor responsible for the steep increase in youth being overweight and may have an impact on the emergence of Type 2 diabetes among overweight, minority teens’ and activity levels of youth tend to drop even further during adolescence and three-quarters of overweight and obese tweens do not change their habits and remain overweight and obese in adulthood, and

WHEREAS, diabetes is a serious problem among Native Americans and Alaskan Natives who have the highest diabetes rates in the world (in some Tribes, 50% of the population have diabetes); and diabetes has reached epidemic proportions among Native Americans; and complications from diabetes are major causes of death; and amputations among Native Americans are 3-4 times higher than the general populations; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is managing the multimedia, multicultural campaign VERB It’s what you do, to promote healthy lifestyles and displace unhealthy, risky behaviors among tweens (ages 9-13); and the goals of the VERB campaign is to encourage tweens to be physically active; to raise awareness about the importance of regular physical activity and motivate teens to be physically active at least one hour every day for the rest of their lives; and

WHEREAS, the G&G Advertising, an American Indian owned Advertising Firm, is partnering with CDC in an effort to achieve these goals with American Indian Youth through the advertising and marking campaign – “VERB It’s what you do. Native Style.”

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Indian Education Association endorses the “VERB It’s what you do. Native Style.” Campaign to promote healthy lifestyles and displace unhealthy, risky behaviors among American Indian tweens, ages 9-13 years old, and encourages schools with enrollments of American Indian children to become a partner with the campaign. Submitted by Gerald Gray, Blackfeet, G&G Advertising Firm

CERTIFICATION

I do hereby certify that the forgoing resolution was duly considered and passed by the NIEA Board of Directors at its October 28-31, 2004 meeting in Phoenix, Arizona at which a quorum was present.