The mayor of Indianapolis is urging that city's yoots to just say no to sloth:
"I will be active 60 minutes a day and eat healthy foods"
Those words are on the pledge card that Indianapolis youths can sign as part of a new, citywide Get Fit Indy! wellness initiative, launched Wednesday by Mayor Greg Ballard and 17 community partners.
Nobody will be keeping track of minutes. There won't be any incentive or awards, at least for now. But officials hope the campaign, with its website and Facebook community page, will bring more attention to the stubborn problem of childhood obesity and give youths and families quick online access to health and fitness activities, programs and tips.
This will likely be as effective as teen abstinence pledges. One study, you might recall, found that teens who vow to stay virgins are just as likely to have premarital sex as those who don't and, furthermore, are less likely to use birth control when they do. And the urge to sit on a couch and shove food down our throats is right up there with sex among the primal urges.
