Published: 11-17-08
AUSTIN – First Lady Anita Perry today announced the annual Texas Round-Up First Lady’s T-shirt Design Competition which encourages children age 12 and under to create a fitness-inspired design to be used on the official t-shirt for the Texas Round-Up Family Mile on April 25 2009.
“Texas is taking the reins on combating the trend of poor nutrition and obesity-related health issues through Texas Round-Up” Mrs. Perry said. “The t-shirt competition provides a fun opportunity to engage and educate students about the importance of fitness and nutrition as well as encourage creativity in the classroom.”
Texas Round-Up is striving to improve the health of Texans through education and promotion of physical activity and healthy living. The U.S. Surgeon General has reported that 70 percent of overweight children will become overweight or obese adults. Because healthy habits are best learned early in life Texas Round-Up is reaching out to children to encourage participation in the program.
“It is the responsibility of every parent teacher leader and citizen to educate the children of our state about the importance of health and fitness” Meredith Garcia executive director of Texas Round-Up said. “We must move beyond lectures and begin modeling positive behavior and encouraging participation in projects such as this one.”
Entries for the t-shirt design competition will be accepted through Jan. 31 2008. The winning artist and his or her parents or guardians will be invited to attend the Texas Round-Up race weekend events on April 24-25 2009 in Austin. Participation in the race events is encouraged but not required to submit a design entry.
In 2004 Governor Rick Perry launched the Texas Round-Up statewide fitness initiative and 10K race to motivate and encourage Texans to become more active and incorporate healthy choices into their daily lives. Today Texas Round-Up is an independent not-for-profit organization working to improve the health of Texas through education and promotion of physical activity and healthy living.
For more information about Texas Round-Up or the First Lady’s T-shirt Design Competition please visit www.texasroundup.org.
