Fuel Up to Play 60

More than 7,400 schools in Dairy MAX territory experienced the impact of the farmer-funded Fuel Up to Play 60 (FUTP60) program this year.

The National Dairy Council and the National Football League have teamed up to launch FUTP60.  The program, which reached 60,000 schools nationwide, emphasizes students making healthy nutrition choices, such as consuming low-fat and non-fat dairy foods, fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and getting at least 60 minutes of exercise each day.

Participating schools track their results via www.fueluptoplay60.com. In essence, more healthy choices in the cafeteria and more exercise equate to more points earned, which schools can redeem for prizes.

Arizona Fleming Elementary School in Houston, Texas, accumulated the most points this year among Texas schools. Nearly the entire school – 670 of 690 students – participated in FUTP60. “I think it’s an amazing program,” physical education teacher Brad Easterling said. “I don’t ever remember any program getting this amount of kids to participate. I think it’s groundbreaking and I think it’s something that should be incorporated into every PE class. Nutrition and exercise aren’t going away and if students take these habits they’re learning (through FUTP60) and they become lifelong habits, then we’ve done our jobs.”

Dairy MAX utilized the star power of the Dallas and Houston NFL teams to help get schools excited about the program as well as extending FUTP60 at the retail level. Dairy MAX teamed with the Cowboys and Texans to host a video contest for high school students to encourage younger students to participate in FUTP60. At retail, shoppers at Albertsons and H-E-B had opportunities to garner NFL merchandise and prizes following $10 purchases of milk, cheese or yogurt.