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NEW SPECIALTY CERTIFICATIONS HELP PARENTS, PROFESSIONALS TARGET CHILDHOOD OBESITY, POOR NUTRITION

Posted: May 02, 2013 in

Education Tracks in Youth Fitness, Fitness Nutrition
Offer Expertise in Age-Appropriate Program Development, Healthy Eating

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (May 2, 2013) – According to the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition, children now spend 7 ½ hours a day in front of a screen, and the typical American diet exceeds recommended levels of fat, sugar, refined grains and sodium.

As schools begin to let out for an extended break and families plan vacations filled with unhealthy eating options, American Council on Exercise (ACE) has released new education designed to combat those trends.

Specialty Certifications in both Youth Fitness and Fitness Nutrition provide personal trainers, group fitness instructors, health coaches, families, sports coaches and members of allied health the expertise they need to develop effective exercise programs for youth and healthy eating habits for people from all walks of life.

“The obesity epidemic affects two out of three adults in the United States right now, and we know that overweight adolescents have a 70% change of becoming overweight or obese as they grow older,” said ACE President and CEO Scott Goudeseune. “We want to do our best to prevent that from happening by attacking the epidemic from a variety of angles. These two specialty certifications provide the expertise that parents, coaches and professionals need to not only instill the value of physical activity at an early age, but to help people learn to select and prepare healthy foods for a lifetime.”

Curriculum for both Specialty Certifications cover motor development, pediatric exercise physiology, growth-related differences in abilities, youth resistance and cardiorespiratory training, integration of health- and skill-related activities into fitness programs, how to teach clients to read and compare nutrition labels, healthy food choices, motivational interviewing techniques, how to lead cooking demonstrations and more.

Becoming a Youth Fitness Specialist will help parents, youth sports coaches, and other professionals in fitness, health care, recreation or education gain the knowledge and skills they need to create customized and organized fitness programs for children and teens.

As a Fitness Nutrition Specialist, personal trainers, group fitness instructors, health coaches, and health care professionals can be the source of nutrition information their clients and patients need to navigate a landscape of quick-fix solutions, poor food choices, and a multi-billion dollar diet industry.

Specialty certifications are intended to complement fitness certifications accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) or the education qualified coaches and health care professionals already possess. To earn a specialty certification, health and fitness professionals must complete a series of individual courses created by ACE and its educational partners. Youth Fitness and Fitness Nutrition Specialty Certifications are each equivalent to 2.5 continuing education credits (25 hours of professional development).

 

 

About ACE
Since 1985, American Council on Exercise (ACE) has evolved from a small nonprofit dedicated to educating people about proper fitness to a 50,000-strong network of certified Personal Trainers, Group Fitness Instructors, Health Coaches and Advanced Health & Fitness Specialists. As the largest NCCA-accredited nonprofit fitness certification organization in the world, ACE provides quality continuing education to professionals and conducts independent science-based research to protect all Americans from unsafe and ineffective products. Our goal is to inspire people to live their most fit lives through free fitness resources including workouts, nutrition information and expert advice. For more information, call (800) 825-3636 or visit ACEfitness.org.  AMERICAN COUNCIL ON EXERCISE, ACE and ACE logos are Registered Trademarks of the American Council on Exercise.

 

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