My name is Anne, and I'm a 20 year old college junior studying kinesiology. Fitness has always been an important part of my life, and I strongly believe it's because the values were instilled in me at a young age. I was also on my high school's equestrian team, and I ran track in middle and high school. Now I love to run races, and I am training with my sights on a half-marathon.

When I was in elementary school, my favorite class was gym. I loved the opportunity to get away from the classroom, and do fun things like jump rope, soccer, and running games. I remember being so excited when we had fitness events like Jump Rope for the Heart, and I loved field day! I strongly believe that my school's fitness program gave me a great start to a healthy life. Through physical education classes, I found that I really liked being active. It led me to choose a healthy lifestyle by riding horses, running, and enjoying the outdoors.

Instead of playing outside, today's kids are on the couch watching tv. Instead of playing football with friends after school with friends, kids sit inside and play Madden NFLvideo games for hours. As a result, statistics show that children are more unhealthy than ever. In the last 30 years, child obesity rates have tripled (The Daily Record, November 2006). Overweight adolescents have up to an 80% chance of becoming overweight or obese adults. With children becoming obese at such a young age, we will start to see the earlier onset of related illnesses such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and certain types of cancer (The Daily Record, November 2006). Obesity is also a huge financial burden, with estimated costs topping $100 billion (The Daily Record, November 2006)). If this continues, experts in longevity predict that this will be the first generation of children who don't live as long as their parents.

So, how can you help? The ING Run for Something Better program is raising money to fund running and physical fitness education programs in schools. These programs offer kids a healthy start to life, and fosters their desire to exercise and be active-- before obesity ever begins. I know my school fitness program helped me get a great start to a healthy and vibrant life. I want today's kids to get the same opportunity--their lives depend on it.

So, join me in the race to prevent childhood obesity! Please consider donating to this important cause, and help ING provide kids with the fitness programs they need to foster a healthy and happy lifestyle.

I'll be training and racing my heart out for the cause. My goal is to raise $300 by the Dexter/Ann Arbor race on May 31, 2009. Any amount you can contribute helps-- even if it's just $5. You can donate by clicking on the button on the bottom of the page. 1Thank you so much-- from me, and the kids!