IHRSA Europe update
The activity alphabet W
IHRSA has published a new A–Z book that’s designed to educate children about physical activity from an early age
hen Jay Ablondi, IHRSA’s executive vice president of global products, was reading to his daughter Elle,
now aged 3½, he noticed there were plenty of alphabet books on the market – but not many that had an exercise-focused message. That gave him an idea. Rather, it sparked an old idea that had been shelved for more than five years. Ablondi and Stan Tran, IHRSA’s association management systems administrator, had started work on a children’s book in the late 2000s, but put it on hold due to time restraints and the recession. With his new revelation, Ablondi went to Tran and set a deadline for the two of them to finish and publish the book.
A first for IHRSA Active from A to Z, IHRSA’s first foray into children’s publishing, became available for purchase in May. The 56-page publication is full of bright illustrations by Tran that complement Ablondi’s rhymes about animals being active and accompanying fun facts. “I feel I have good editorial instincts, but I
never thought myself as a writer or author,” says Ablondi, who oversees IHRSA’s magazines and reports. “But this idea took on a life of its own. It became easy to do because I immersed myself in children’s early education books. It just flowed.” Tran is the man behind IHRSA’s CBI magazine cartoon, Out of Shape.
IHRSA dipping into the children’s book pool shouldn’t be too surprising. Part of its mission is to help provide solutions for the growing obesity epidemic and dearth of activity among both adults and children; a book that IHRSA hopes will get kids interested in exercise, with their parents’ participation, fits perfectly. “Kids and parents need to understand that exercise should be an important part of their lives,” says Ablondi. “The idea of the book is to help parents teach children that not everything is about sitting in front of a computer screen and watching TV.” With bears playing baseball, cheetahs on cycles and elephants on ellipticals, children will be introduced to new animals, physical activities and exercise equipment. “This book will introduce children to new
sports,” adds Ablondi. “They can try things like racquetball or skateboarding over time, but why not expose them when they’re first learning? It’s never too early to instill healthy exercise habits.”
Getting kids active Conveniently, another part of IHRSA’s mission is to help grow the industry and its
A-Z brings the notion of exercise into learning the alphabet
member clubs – and those reading the book now could easily become members of IHRSA clubs in the future. “Many health clubs don’t cater to
children, but they can still convey the message to parents that they should be instilling exercise habits and making it fun to exercise at an early age,” explains Ablondi. “Parents want their children to live healthy lives. What better way than to have exercise as part of their daily routine?” IHRSA associate member Helix, creator of the lateral trainer, sponsored the book. President Lenny Snyderman says the book struck a chord with him: “Today, we see fewer and fewer kids exercising, with limited freedom due to safety concerns as well as the growing dependence on electronic activities. “I was very pleased to see someone taking the time to write about children and fitness, while using the power of IHRSA to raise a subject that really needs more focus in our country.” Jim Schmaltz, editor of IHRSA’s Get Active! magazine, and Samantha Cuozzo, designer for CBI magazine, also contributed to the book. Priced at US$13.95, Active from A to Z is for
The book exposes young children to the idea of fun physical activity while they learn Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital
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anyone who wants to illustrate the virtues of physical activity to kids in an entertaining way. It’s available in either print or PDF formats at
www.ihrsa.org/active-a-to-z, and through online retailers including Amazon. ●
July 2014 © Cybertrek 2014
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