An estimated one-third of American children are overweight or obese. In support of National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, the Saucony brand is joining the race against this epidemic with the launch of Saucony Run4Good — the running industry’s first iPhone app raising money and awareness around this crisis.

With every mile, runners earn money for community youth running programs fast-tracking kids back to health. “As a brand focused on runners, innovation and social responsibility, we believe the Saucony Run4Good app offers a new world of possibilities to engage with our community in a relevant, innovative and meaningful way while inspiring a strong unity of purpose to make a difference for our kids,” said Chris Lindner, Saucony's CMO and SVP for commerce.

The statistics on U.S. childhood obesity are alarming: almost 20% of children ages 6 to 11 and 18% of those 12 to 19 are considered obese. The CDC estimates that over the past three decades, childhood obesity has more than doubled for preschool children aged 2-5 years and adolescents 12-19 years, and more than tripled for children 6-11 years.Continue reading...

With ICANN’s opening of the application period for new generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs) one month away, attention is being paid in Washington, D.C. with two hearings this week, or, as Domain Name Wire wrote, “Get ready for representatives to pretend like they know about domain names.”

This morning’s U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing aimed to "examine the merits and implications of this new program and ICANN's continuing efforts to address concerns raised by the internet community."

In an piece titled “ICANN opens pepper-spray, fires in own face,” Kieren McCarthy, CEO at .Nxt, Inc., who believes the hearing's witness list “is stacked against the program,” wrote:

“Having spent seven years putting together plans for the greatest expansion of the Internet, and with applications for potentially thousands of new extensions due to open in just over a month, ICANN should be riding high. Instead it is the focus of not one but two Senate hearings this month and a huge campaign that includes giants such as Procter & Gamble, Hewlett Packard, JC Penny, Johnson & Johnson and Kellogg's to get ICANN to either delay or restructure the program."Continue reading...

New York's disco group whose classic dance hit YMCA has become "a staple at nearly every ballgame, wedding and Bar Mitzvah," according to their publicist, responded to today's news that the YMCA is rebranding to its nickname: the Y.

Village People (unlike the Y, they prefer no "The") sent us the following comment from the road. (Yes, they're still touring and performing year-round after 33 years.)

“We are deeply dismayed by today's announcement from the YMCA that they feel a name change and a rebranding are in order after 166 years. Some things remain iconic and while we admire the organization for the work they do, we still can’t help but wonder Y.”

They won't change a letter in their song, which they'll keep performing as written and beloved. (We'd be disappointed if they did.) The organization, meanwhile, explained its new branding at a press conference in Washington, D.C. today.Continue reading...

In sad news for the Village People, the YMCA follows KFC, NPR and AARP in formally adopting its acronym and shedding three letters to become just the Y. Individual branches will still be known as "The YMCA of ____." (Update: Village People respond, more details here.)

BP shares rise on news it's making progress on oil spill containment but not making promises — and that it's rumored to be in talks to sell assets to Apache, and facing a possible ExxonMobil takeover bid. Louisiana is pitching BP on a scheme to get unemployed commercial fishermen back on the job.

Spain's octopus-predicted triumph over the Netherlands in the World Cup final drew Nelson Mandela to the closing ceremony while Uruguay's Diego Forlan won the Adidas Golden Ball (not the unpopular Jabulani) for individual achievement. A likely terrorist attack in Uganda killing at least 60 World Cup fans marred yesterday's celebrations.Continue reading...

Yay, YMCA! We’ve always loved them – and now we remember why. In addition to a classic, iconic song, and years of physical empowerment for millions, they are now modeling a viable health insurance alternative.

Teaming with the United Health Group, one of the largest health insurers in the U.S., and Walgreens pharmacies, the Y is addressing Type 2 diabetes – in a very simple way.

New YMCA-based “Lifestyle Coaches” in seven cities will target at-risk people for whom losing just a modest number of pounds will significantly lower their odds of developing diabetes. The coaches are an add-on to a successful 16-week trial program already in place at nationwide Y’s, advising members on better exercise and nutrition.

Currently, 25 million Americans are estimated to have Type 2 diabetes, with an additional 60 million classified as pre-diabetic. That’s one in four adults who may have avoided diabetes through better nutrition and exercise to combat obesity. The cost of treatment that many diabetics? An estimated $200 billion annually.Continue reading...