‘Healthy Pima’ Partners with Tucson Meet Yourself

Traditions of Health and Wellness to Highlight Healthy Foods & Exercise

This year’s Tucson Meet Yourself (TMY) event will feature a series of new events in partnership with the Pima County Health Department’s ‘Healthy Pima’ public education campaign. “Being a part of TMY is a great way to promote healthy choices, increasing physical activity and improving nutrition to the festival’s nearly 100,000 attendees,” said ‘Healthy Pima’ program manager Don Gates, PhD., of the Pima County Health Department.

According to TMY executive director Mia Hansen, the 38-year old festival will this year focus on Traditions of Health and Wellness. There will be specific changes to the festival to educate and promote a ‘Healthy Pima’ lifestyle:
• Staging multiple interactive games and sports from around the world in tandem with TMY’s new Traditions of Health and Wellness pavilion taking over the entire Jacome Library plaza.
• Many TMY food vendors will offer “smart choice” menu items that feature smaller portions and are lower in calories, sodium and fat.
• Re-focusing the popular ‘Iron Chef’ competition around the preparation of healthy recipes.
• Engaging children and adults in advance of the festival to learn the choreography of the Beyonce song “Move Your Body” to stage a massive flash workout on October 15 at 2 p.m.
• Encouraging walking by marking a 2,500 -step ‘TMY Trekking Path’ through the large festival site.

“The focus on healthy habits is a logical extension of what TMY is all about. These new initiatives will help ensure TMY attendees walk away with a greater awareness of options when it comes to eating and exercise, while still rooted in cultural tastes and customs,” said Hansen.

Additional support for the expanded health options at the festival is provided by La Frontera Arizona and Providence Service Corporation. TMY takes place October 14-16 in downtown Tucson. More information is available at www.tucsonmeetyourself.org/

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The ‘Healthy Pima’ program is made possible by funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) Initiative.  For more information about the ‘Healthy Pima’ program, go to www.HealthyPima.org or call (520)243-7885.