Worldwide Recess Day Rallies for Improved Workplace Wellness with Just 10 Minutes of Play a Day

9 September 2011
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KEEN Turns Urban Landscape into a Pop-Up Playground for Adults on September 14 When Recess Revolution Tour Comes to Washington, D.C.

WHAT:  American business leaders, employees, health & wellness experts, Washington, D.C. dignitaries and members of the Obama Administration and Congress are invited to step away from their desks and computers to participate in Worldwide Recess Day on September 14, a first-time rally to put workplace recess on the national agenda. Worldwide Recess Day, to be celebrated at Union Station in Washington, D.C. is the fifth stop on the KEEN Recess Revolution Tour, a series of events designed to inspire adults to reclaim playtime and take much-needed 10-minute breaks from the daily office grind by escaping to the outdoors.

At a time when Americans are leading increasingly digital and sedentary lifestyles coupled with growing obesity rates, KEEN wants to re-energize adults at work and make recess as common as casual Friday. Recent workplace studies conducted by Dr. Toni Yancey, author of Instant Recess and co-director of the Center for Health Equity and professor of health services at UCLA, show that taking short activity breaks during the workday, the time KEEN refers to as “recess,” offers employers an effective way to support better health, increased productivity and engagement, as well as mental stimulation among employees.

Worldwide Recess Day will feature a pop-up playground with the KEEN playhouse-inspired Recess Pledge station surrounded by tetherball courts and a variety of outdoor games (photos available). Businesses, local, regional and national officials, sports figures, and news media will join to take the Recess Pledge and rally their constituents, employers and employees to embrace short outdoor activity breaks during the workday for healthier, happier employees.

Additionally, the results of KEEN’s recent Survey on employee attitudes toward recess conducted by Harris Interactive will be unveiled on Worldwide Recess Day.

WHERE: Union Station (front plaza), Washington, D.C.

WHEN: Wednesday, September 14; 11:00 a.m. to 6 p.m.

KEEN Recess leaders will be available on-site between 11:00-1:30

WHY:   The benefits of physical activity are numerous and well-documented. National organizations such as the President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, the Partnership for a Healthier America, the National Recreation and Park Association, and the Task Force on Community Preventative Services are active partners in the campaign for physical activity to help improve health. Moreover, many major corporations have successfully instituted physical activity programs in the workplace.

According to The Energy Project, 62 percent of employees agree that they don’t take regular breaks during the day to renew and recharge. These people become less productive, less engaged, less efficient and less focused.  Additionally, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report indicates that 75 percent of employers’ health-care costs are related to employee lifestyle choices. Companies that sponsor health and wellness programs get a return on their investment of between $3 and $6 for every dollar they spend over a two- to five-year period, according to the CDC.

For more information about KEEN’s Recess is Back initiative, visit keenfootwear.com/recess.

WHO:  Available for interviews pre-event and on-site:

  • James Curleigh, KEEN CEO
  • Phyllis Grove, KEEN VP of Marketing
  • Dr. Toni Yancey, author of Instant Recess and co-director of the Center for Health Equity and professor of health services at UCLA. NOTE: Dr. Yancey is the author the Instant Recess Corporate Toolkit sponsored by KEEN that will be released fall 2011.
  • Linda Balfour,  KEEN Marketing Manager
CONTACTS:

Ann-Marie Nieves, Ivy Cohen Corporate Communications, 914-461-4360, [email protected] or Ivy Cohen, 212-399-0026, [email protected]

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