Governor's Council on Physical Fitness & Health Celebrates Shining Star Award Recipients

Local Businesses and Organizations Promote Healthy Lifestyles for Tennesseans

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Health honored nine Tennessee programs and organizations with the 2010 Shining Star Award. The award program is designed to recognize the contributions of an individual or group for efforts to promote healthy lifestyles. The areas of recognition are communities (Where We Live); employers (Where We Work); and educational settings (Where We Learn). The Shining Star Award recipients received their awards in Nashville, Tenn. on Monday, August 2, 2010.

“I am pleased to recognize the work of these organizations to improve the fitness and health of Tennesseans,” said Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen. “These groups are blazing a trail to help Tennessee become a healthier state by creating a culture of health in the workplace, schools and across the community.”

The 2010 Shining Star Award recipients are as follows:

Where We Live category
• Giles County Health Council
• City of Cookeville’s The Power of Ten
• Wayne County Health Council

Where We Work category
• Freed Hardeman University Fitness for U Wellness Program
• McKee Foods Worksite Wellness Program
• Lenoir City School Staff Wellness Program

Where We Learn category
• Lawrence County Health Council
• Roane County TNCEP Coalition Tasty Tuesday,
• Fit Kids Ready for Action at East Tennessee State University

“Our Shining Star Award winners are encouraging Tennesseans to make simple changes that can lead to big improvements in the health of our state,” said Health Commissioner Susan R. Cooper, MSN, RN. “We support the efforts of groups like these to find strategies that help motivate people in their communities to become more active and lead more healthful lives.”

The Tennessee Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Health was created to address the health and fitness needs of all Tennesseans through the promotion of healthy lifestyles. The council recognizes that to be successful in affecting a change in the lifestyle habits of Tennesseans, a cooperative effort will be required of government agencies, businesses, communities and individuals that share the goal of enhancing the quality of life in Tennessee through the promotion of healthy lifestyles.

For more information, visit the Tennessee Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Health’s website at http://health.state.tn.us/governorscouncil/index.shtml.

Governor Bredesen has been instrumental in the creation and development of several initiatives designed to improve the health of Tennesseans. Most recently, he signed an executive order promoting healthy options for state office vending machines and requested that the Tennessee Department of Health make recommendations for nutritious food and beverages provided to state employees at work-related events and activities held on public property.

Project Diabetes is another of Governor Bredesen’s innovative public health initiatives launched to address the epidemic of Type 2 diabetes in Tennessee. To learn more, call 615-253-8729 or e-mail Project.Diabetes@tn.gov.

Governor Bredesen also created Get Fit Tennessee, a statewide awareness program to education Tennesseans about Type 2 diabetes and risk factors that lead to the disease, such as obesity. Visit www.getfittn.com for more information and free health and fitness tools for children and adults.