Busy Buddy Takes on Childhood Obesity; Kidnetic.com Goes Live

6/26/2002

From: Nick Alexander or Jennifer Schleman, 202-296-6540, media@ific.org, both of the International Food Information Council

WASHINGTON, June 26 -- "Sweet!" "Cool!" "Awesome!" That's how tweens are describing a unique new Web site designed to teach kids and their families how to live healthier lives through healthy eating and physical activity. Today, Busy Buddy helped a unique group of partners unveil their newest creation, Kidnetic.com.

"Kids know how to reach kids, so we went straight to them for input," said Sylvia Rowe, president and CEO, International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation. "The number one thing kids told us is that any educational tool needs to be fun to use."

Kidnetic.com is based on two and a half years of research conducted to better understand how kids and parents think and feel about food, physical activity and health. It's designed to use the Internet in a way that has never been tried before. Instead of allowing kids to sit and surf for hours, Kidnetic.com engages kids to be physically active while they're online.

Kidnetic.com was created through a unique partnership involving six organizations working together to prevent childhood obesity. This partnership includes the IFIC Foundation, American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Sports Medicine, American Dietetic Association, International Life Sciences Institute Center for Health Promotion and National Recreation and Park Association. All content has been reviewed and approved by the partner organizations and a panel of science advisors.

"While the site is targeted to kids and parents, it also gives groups like doctors and dietitians a fun tool they can provide to families to encourage healthy lifestyles," said Susan Borra, registered dietitian and IFIC Foundation's senior vice president of nutrition.

Busy Buddy is a personal on-screen buddy that helps kids tap into their "kidnetic energy." The interactive character talks to kids and encourages them to visit different sections of the site. Betchacant entices kids to challenge their friends to beat their record for a certain physical activity. An online timed scavenger hunt called Time Challenge makes kids get out of their seats and scour their homes for common items. In Recipe Roundup, tweens will find healthy, kid-friendly recipes like Brewed Monkey Brain Stew. Through the Kidnector, kids and parents can talk about health and fitness issues via the Internet. The site also features Bright Papers on issues such as portion size, healthy snacking, junk food and self-esteem. The entire site has been kid and parent tested with one parent calling it "a wonderful site for bonding."

"During our research, parents asked us to create simple ways they could use the site to help their kids," said Rowe. "Kidnetic.com enables parents to seek advice from our panel of experts as well as other parents."

Kidnetic.com is funded through unrestricted grants to the IFIC Foundation from the following companies: The Coca-Cola Company; Hershey Foods Corporation; Keebler Company; Kellogg Company; Kraft Foods; Masterfoods USA; McDonald's Corporation; The Procter & Gamble Company; PepsiCo, Inc.; and Sara Lee Corporation.

Kidnetic.com is completely non-commercial. There is no advertising, nothing for sale and no links to any company or brand Web site.

To visit the site, go to http://www.Kidnetic.com.

The International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation is the education arm of IFIC. IFIC's mission is to communicate science-based information on food safety and nutrition to health and nutrition professionals, educators, journalists, government officials and others providing information to consumers. IFIC and its Foundation are supported primarily by the broad-based food, beverage and agricultural industries.