The National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) today announced that it has joined the National Physical Activity Plan as an organizational partner. NATA will join 11 other organizations to develop, release and implement a comprehensive National Physical Activity
Plan for the United States. This plan will act as the catalyst for creating the environment that will give all Americans the opportunity to meet the Physical Activity Guidelines established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services last year.
“In order to reverse the upward trends of obesity, related chronic conditions and non-communicable disease, Americans need to be more physically active,” said NATA President Marjorie J. Albohm, MS, ATC. “This goal will be met when all Americans unify behind a single plan and the time for that national plan is now.”
NATA’s representatives will play central roles in all aspects of the development, launch and implementation of the National Physical Activity
Plan. NATA’s representative to the coordinating committee will participate in monthly teleconference meetings and semi-annual in-person meetings. They will also take part in the national conference in July 2009, designate members to serve on sector working groups and provide financial support to the National Plan process.
“Most Americans do not meet current physical activity guidelines and the associated public health burden is enormous. NATA is joining other leading organizations to provide the leadership needed to develop a National Physical Activity Plan which is fully supportive of physically active lifestyles,” said Albohm. “We believe that an effective National Plan can be the catalyst for effectively addressing many of the greatest public health challenges of the 21st century.”
In addition to NATA, other organizational partners include the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Alliance for Health, Physical
Education, Recreation and Dance, American Association of Retired Persons, American Cancer Society, American College of Sports Medicine,
American Heart Association, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Active Living Research, American Association for Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation, National Coalition on Promoting Physical Activity, and YMCA of America.
For more details about the National Physical Activity Plan, visithttp://www.physicalactivityplan.org.
Athletic trainers are health care professionals who specialize in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of injuries and illnesses. The National Athletic Trainers' Association represents and supports 30,000 members of the athletic training profession. Only 42 percent of high schools have access to athletic trainers. NATA members adhere to a code of ethics. NATA supports the right of all patients to have equal access to the services of athletic trainers through the Athletic Trainers’ Equal Access to Medicare Act (H.R. 1137). Visithttp://www.nata.org.
