Jazzercise News Releases

President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports
Supports Active Aging Week

Program to Highlight the Importance of Physical Activity for Older Adults

(CARLSBAD, CALIF. - September 18, 2003) -The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports today announced its intention to join Jazzercise, Inc. and the International Council on Active Aging (ICAA) in the launch of the first-ever Active Aging Week, Sept. 29 to Oct. 5, 2003. Designed to boost awareness of the importance of physical activity for older adults, the week-long event will couple hundreds of fitness and wellness facilities across the United States with local Jazzercise instructors.

Throughout the week, the group will offer free Simply•Lite fitness classes, a low impact version of the original Jazzercise program, to seniors nationwide. Many of the free fitness classes are scheduled to coincide with the October 1 "International Day of Older Persons" - a 13-year World Health Organization initiative to promote the importance of keeping aging adults worldwide both healthy and productive. Participating locations will include Washington, DC, Sun City West, Ariz., Palm Desert, Calif., Miami, Chicago, Denver, Iowa City, Henderson, Nev., Dallas and New York.

"Our goal is to encourage all Americans to be more active every day, and Active Aging Week is the perfect launching pad for us to help older adults become more physically active," says Melissa Johnson, incoming Executive Director of the PCPFS. "We believe our 'President's Challenge' program, available at presidentschallenge.org, provides the right tool to motivate seniors and track fitness goals, and saw it as an ideal complement to Active Aging Week."

The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (PCPFS) serves as a catalyst to promote, encourage and motivate Americans of all ages to become physically active and participate in sports.
Assisted by elements of the U.S. Public Health Service, the PCPFS advises the President and the Secretary of Health and Human Services on how to encourage more Americans to be physically fit and active. For more information about the PCPFS, visit www.fitness.gov.

The ICAA is the only organization in North America dedicated to changing the way we age by uniting and working with professionals in the retirement, assisted living, fitness, rehabilitation and wellness fields. It connects a community of like-minded professionals who share the goals of changing society's perceptions of aging and improving the quality of life for aging baby boomers and older adults within the six dimensions of wellness. The council supports these professionals with education, information, resources, and tools, so they can achieve optimal success with this growing market. To learn more about the ICAA, call 866-335-9777 or visit the ICAA web site at www.icaa.cc.

Jazzercise, created by Judi Sheppard Missett, is the world's leading dance-fitness program with more than 6,800 instructors teaching 30,000 classes weekly in the U.S. and around the globe. Since 1969, millions of people of all ages and fitness levels have reaped the benefits of this comprehensive program, designed to enhance cardiovascular endurance, strength, and flexibility. For more information, go to jazzercise.com or call (800)FIT-IS-IT.

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