On January 23rd, hip-hop legend and weight loss advocate, Fat Joe, performed at an event celebrating the winners from Let’s Move! Newark: Our Power (LM!NOP), a program created by Behavioral Health & Fitness Expert, Jeff Halevy, to fight childhood obesity. After improving his lifestyle, Fat Joe has recently lost over 100 pounds and chose to be a part of Halevy’s Let’s Move! Newark: Our Power to encourage our youth to follow his success.
Jeff Halevy was hand-selected to create Let’s Move! Newark: Our Power by Newark Mayor Cory Booker, as an extension of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Campaign, which Mayor Booker currently serves as the honorary Vice Chair. The program began in October of 2011 with 1,500 high school freshmen in five different Newark, NJ high schools competing against each other for the most minutes moved. Barringer 9 School has achieved the coveted winning title with an impressive 619,600 minutes moved, earning them a performance by superstar recording artist, Fat Joe, as well as a renewed attitude towards physical activity and wellbeing.
The LM!NOP challenge in Newark will kick-off a national series to combat the overwhelming statistics on childhood obesity. Upon joining the program, each participating student received a MYTRAK, a cutting edge, credit card size, wearable health device, which measures both duration and intensity of physical activity. The 12-week program had students “Going for Green” on their MYTRAK device, turning the device’s LED light from red to green, indicating that 60 minutes of physical activity have been achieved. MYTRAK donated 1,500 M2 units to the LM!NOP campaign, which included access to MYTRAK’s online suite of health and wellness software that connects users with a team of lifestyle program advisors and community based support. Newark high school students will be rewarded based on their level of activity and in addition to the winners receiving a concert by a top musician, other prizes will include Nets Basketball tickets and Zumba DVDs to designer apparel from ENYCE and high-end TRX Suspension Training equipment.
Jeff Halevy & Fat Joe Talk Let’s Move Newark: Our Power (LMNOP) on PIX 11
Photos: Ivan Gabel