OKLAHOMA CITY – Three Oklahoma organizations are partnering to encourage Oklahomans to drink more water this upcoming college football season. Shape Your Future, a program of the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET), has joined Oklahoma State University (OSU) Athletics and the University of Oklahoma (OU) Athletics, in a strategic collaboration to provide free water bottles at home football games along with free water filling stations.
Through this unique partnership, Shape Your Future will help OSU and OU Athletics create healthy opportunities on gamedays. Water bottles and water filling stations will be available at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater and Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman.
“Water is the best choice for hydration, and we are excited to partner with the state’s top universities to make it easier for fans to make a healthy choice,” said Julie Bisbee, TSET executive director. “Research shows that Oklahoma adults and children choose sugar-sweetened beverages at a higher rate than other states. Those empty calories can add up. Unhealthy weight and obesity can lead to other costly, long-term health issues. TSET’s mission is to help improve the health of all Oklahomans. Partnering with OU and OSU to support water filling stations and create additional healthy options is a win-win.”
Children who consume higher amounts of sugary drinks have a 55% greater chance of being overweight or obese compared to those who consume fewer sugary drinks. A 20-ounce bottle of soda contains the equivalent of approximately 17 teaspoons of sugar. The American Heart Association recommends that adults consume no more than five to nine teaspoons of added sugar per day and no more than six teaspoons for kids.
Shape Your Future offers a variety of tips and tools to help Oklahomans make the healthy choice the easy choice. Learn how you can make small changes add up — by swapping sugary drinks for infused water, eating better with healthy recipes or finding physical activity ideas at ShapeYourFutureOK.com.
“Hydration is something we preach to our student-athletes every day. It’s sound advice for all of us,” said OU Senior Associate Athletics Director Kenny Mossman. “This is especially true at games when we get into warm environments and out of our daily routines. This opportunity with Shape Your Future allows us to remind our fans of the importance of drinking water, and it allows us to do so at times and in places where they need to pay particularly close attention to their health.”
“Water consumption is an essential part of a healthy diet and when seeking to quench your thirst, it is by far the best and most affordable choice,” said Todd Misener, PhD, CHES, Chief Wellness Officer for Oklahoma State University. “Thanks to our partnership with TSET’s Shape Your Future program, we will enable greater consumption of water at our sporting events and across our state as we cheer on our Cowboys and promote a healthier future.”
The partnership between Shape Your Future and university athletics departments was secured by Learfield IMG College, multimedia rightsholder for both schools. Cowboy Sports Properties in Stillwater, Okla. and Sooner Sports Properties in Norman, Okla. are collaborating on the TSET sponsorship on behalf of OSU and OU.
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The Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) serves as a partner and bridge builder for organizations working towards shaping a healthier future for all Oklahomans. TSET provides leadership at the intersections of health by working with local coalitions and initiatives across the state, by cultivating innovative and life-changing research and by working across public and private sectors to develop, support, implement and evaluate creative strategies to take advantage of emerging opportunities to improve the public’s health. TSET – Better Lives Through Better Health. To learn more, go to www.tset.ok.gov.
Shape Your Future (SYF) is a community health education intervention that encourages Oklahomans to eat better, move more, and be tobacco free. SYF was developed in 2011 by the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) and the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) to provide simple messaging for moms and influencers in the lives of children to eat more fruits and vegetables and to be more physically active to improve overall health. SYF strives to educate parents, teachers, caregivers and all Oklahomans on how to make the healthy choice, the easy choice.